DOMESTIC 


ROBINSON 


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HOUDAN  CHICKS  WITH  BARRED  PLYMOUTH   ROCK  MOTHER 
(Photograph  by  C.  E.  Petersen) 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

ELEMENTARY  LESSONS 
IN  AVICULTURE 


BY 

JOHN  H.  ROBINSON 

H 


GINN  AND  COMPANY 

BOSTON  •  NEW  YORK  •  CHICAGO  •  LONDON 


D 


COPYRIGHT,  1913,  15Y 
JOHN   H.  ROBINSON 


ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 
413.9 


..:.'     ... 


GINN  AND  COMPANY  •  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

Ten  years  ago  aviculture  had  hardly  been  thought  of  as  a 
school  subject.  To-day  it  is  taught  in  thousands  of  schools,  and 
in  some  states  instruction  in  poultry  culture  is  required  by  law. 
This  rapid  change  in  sentiment  and  situation  has  resulted  from 
a  combination  of  causes.  When  agricultural  colleges  established 
poultry  departments,  it  was  found  that  a  large  part  of  those 
applying  for  admission  to  them  had  neither  the  practical  knowl- 
edge of  poultry  nor  the  general  education  that  they  needed  to  do 
work  of  college  grade.  About  this  time  also  the  interest  in  nature 
study  began  to  take  a  more  practical  turn,  and  attention  was 
directed  to  the  superiority  of  domesticated  to  wild  animals  and 
plants  as  material  for  school  studies  of  the  phenomena  of  physi- 
cal life.  Added  to  these  special  causes  was  a  general  cause  more 
potent  than  either :  great  numbers  of  people  had  reached  the  stage 
of  experience  in  various  lines  of  aviculture  where  they  realized 
keenly  that  a  little  sound  instruction  in  the  subject  in  youth  would 
have  been  of  great  value  to  them  later  in  life,  saving  them  from 
costly  mistakes.  To  these  people  it  seemed  both  natural  and  nec- 
essary that  the  schools  should  teach  poultry  and  pigeon  culture. 

Developing  as  the  result  of  such  a  combination  of  causes,  the 
demand  for  an  elementary  textbook  on  poultry  came  with  equal 
force  from  country  schools,  where  poultry  might  be  kept  on  the 
school  grounds  as  well  as  by  every  pupil  at  home,  from  city 
schools,  in  which  all  instruction  must  be  by  book,  and  from  all 
types  of  schools  and  conditions  of  life  between.  Had  there  been 
only  the  extreme  classes  of  schools  to  consider,  the  natural  way 
to  supply  the  demand  would  be  with  a  special  book  for  each 
distinct  type  of  school.  The  idea  of  one  book  for  all  schools, 

445045 


vi  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

from  which  each  might  use  what  seemed  to  suit  its  requirements, 
was  dismissed  as  impractical  while  so  large  a  proportion  of 
teachers  were  but  slightly  acquainted  with  the  subject.  It  is 
believed  that  the  plan  of  making  an  elementary  reading  course 
for  general  use,  and  a  secondary  book  of  a  more  technical  char- 
acter for  use  where  practice  courses  are  given,  is  the  best  solution 
of  the  problem  under  existing  conditions. 

In  this  first  book  the  object  is  to  tell  in  plain  language  the 
things  that  every  one  ought  to  know  about  poultry,  pigeons,  and 
cage  birds ;  to  teach  fundamental  facts  in  such  a  way  that  they 
will  be  fixed  in  the  mind;  to  excite  interest  in  the  subject  where 
none  existed;  and  to  direct  enthusiasm  along  right  lines.  While 
the  demand  has  been  almost  wholly  for  a  poultry  book,  pigeons 
and  cage  birds  are  included,  because  they  are  of  more  interest 
than  some  kinds  of  poultry  and  better  adapted  than  any  other 
kind  to  the  conditions  of  city  life. 

In  regard  to  the  time  that  should  be  given  to  this  course, 
one  period  a  week  for  forty  weeks  is  better  than  a  period  a  day 
for  forty  days,  because  the  average  person,  young  or  old,  retains 
a  great  deal  more  of  what  is  read  or  heard  about  a  diversified 
subject  if  the  ground  is  covered  by  easy  stages  with  compara- 
tively long  intervals  between.  References  for  collateral  readings 
and  suggestions  for  original  investigations  are  omitted,  because, 
in  the  author's  opinion,  what  work  of  this  kind  it  is  desirable 
for  a  high-school  pupil  to  do  should  be  done  by  those  taking 
practice  work  in  the  advanced  course. 

JOHN  H.  ROBINSON 

RE  A 1)  I N  G,   M  ASS  ACH  USETTS 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.      BIRDS    AND    THEIR    RELATIONS    TO    MAN I 

Definition  of  a  bird ;  Place  of  birds  in  the  animal  kingdom ; 
Flight  of  birds ;  Voices  of  birds ;  Social  relations  of  birds  — 
Place  of  birds  in  domestication  —  Uses  of  birds  in  domestica- 
tion—  Place  of  wild  birds  in  civilization  —  Classes  of  domestic 
birds 

II.    CHARACTERS  AND  HABITS  OF  BIRDS  RELATED  TO  USE          8 

Feathers  —  Structure  of  feathers  —  Arrangement  of  the  feath- 
ers —  Decorative  feather  forms  —  Color  in  feathers  —  Growth 
and  molting  of  feathers  —  Flight — Mechanism  of  the  wing  — 
Scratching  —  Swimming — Foods  and  mode  of  digestion  — 
Peculiarities  of  birds'  eggs  —  Development  of  the  egg — Rate 
and  amount  of  egg  production  —  Incubation  —  Development 
of  the  embryo  in  a  bird's  egg 

III.      SPECIES    AND    THEIR    DIVISIONS    IN    DOMESTIC    BlRDS  24 

Definition  of  species  —  Origin  of  species  —  Natural  varieties 
—  Varieties  in  domestication  —  Classification  of  domestic  va- 
rieties of  birds — Systematic  mixtures  of  breeds  and  varieties 

—  Pure-bred,  thoroughbred,  and  standard-bred 

IV.    FOWLS 31 

Description  —  Origin  of  the  fowl  —  Appearance  of  the  original 
wild  species  —  Distribution  of  fowls  in  ancient  times  —  De- 
velopment of  principal  races  of  fowls  —  How  fowls  were  kept 
in  old  times  —  Modern  conditions  and  methods  —  Native  fowls 
in  America  —  Old  European  races  of  fowls  —  Italian  fowls  — 
English  races  of  fowls  —  German  and  Dutch  races —  French 
races — -  Spanish  races — Asiatic  races  of  fowls — Chinese  races 

—  Japanese    races  —  The    "  hen-fever  "    period  —  How    the 
American  breeds  arose  —  The  modern  Barred  Plymouth  Rock 

vii 


viii  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

—  Other  varieties  of  the  Plymouth  Rock  —  The  Wyandottes 

—  The  Rhode  Island  Red —  The  American  idea  in  England  ; 
the   Orpington  —  Present  distribution   of   improved  races  — 
Deformed  and  dwarf  races — Silky  fowls  —  Frizzled  fowls  — 
Rumpless  fowls  —  Bantams  —  Origin  of  Bantams  —  Varieties 
of  bantams 

V.    MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS 72 

Small  flocks  on  town  lots:  Numbers  in  flocks — Houses  and 
yards  —  Feeding  —  Growing  chickens.  Small  flocks  on  ordinary 
farms  :  Numbers  in  flocks  —  Single  houses  for  farm  flocks  — 
Feeding  —  Reproducing  the  flock  —  The  hatching  season  — 
Broody  hens  —  Setting  the  hens  —  Care  of  sitting  hens  —  At- 
tention at  hatching  time  —  Coops  for  broods  —  Feeding  young 
chickens  —  Management  of  growing  chicks.  Large  stocks  on 
general  farms  :  The  colony  system  —  Numbers  of  hens  kept  — 
Feeding,  care,  and  results  —  How  the  chickens  are  grown  — 
Adaptability  of  the  colony  system.  Intensive  poultry  farms: 
Reasons  for  concentration  —  Concentration  not  profitable  — 
Common  type  of  intensive  poultry  farm.  Broiler  growing : 
The  "broiler  craze" — Present  condition  of  broiler  growing. 
Roaster  growing:  Description  of  a  good  roaster  —  General 
and  special  supplies — Large  roaster  plants.  Intensive  egg 
farming  —  Poultry  fanciers'  farms 

VI.    DUCKS 124 

Description;  Origin  —  The  common  duck  —  Improved  races 

—  Ornamental  ducks  —  Place  of  ducks  in  domestication 

VII.    MANAGEMENT  OF  DUCKS 137 

Small  flocks  on  town  lots:  Numbers  —  Houses  and  yards  — 
Feeding — Laying  habits.  Growing  ducklings.  Small  flocks 
on  farms  :  General  conditions  —  Feeding.  Market  duck  farms  : 
History  —  Description  —  Duck  fanciers'  methods 

VIII.    GEESE 157 

Description  —  Origin  —  Common  geese  —  Improved  races  — 
Ornamental  varieties  —  The  Canada  Goose,  or  American  Wild 
Goose  —  Place  of  geese  in  domestication 


CONTENTS  ix 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

IX.   MANAGEMENT  OF  GEESE 168 

Small  farm  flocks :  Size  of  flock  —  Houses  and  yards  —  Feed- 
ing —  Laying  season  and  habits  —  Hatching  and  rearing  gos- 
lings—  Large  flocks  of  geese  on  farms — Goose-fattening 
farms  —  Growing  thoroughbred  geese  for  exhibition  —  Grow- 
ing a  few  geese  on  a  town  lot  —  Growing  wild  geese  in  captivity 

X.   TURKEYS 179 

Description  —  Origin  —  Common  turkeys  —  Improved  varie- 
ties —  Bronze  Turkeys  —  Influence  of  the  Bronze  Turkey  on 
other  varieties  —  Other  varieties  of  the  turkey  —  Place  of  the 
turkey  in  domestication 

XL  MANAGEMENT  OF  TURKEYS 190 

Size  of  flocks  —  Shelters  and  yards  —  Feeding  —  Breeding 
season  and  laying  habits  —  Hatching  and  rearing 

XII.    GUINEAS 201 

Description  —  Origin  —  Varieties  —  Place  in  domestication  — 
Management  of  domestic  guineas 

XIII.  PEAFOWLS 206 

Description  —  Origin  —  Place  in  domestication  —  Manage- 
ment 

XIV.  PHEASANTS 211 

Description  —  Origin — History  in  America — Species  and 
varieties  —  Place  in  domestication  —  Management  of  pheas- 
ants in  confinement 

XV.    SWANS 222 

Description  —  Origin  and  history  in  domestication —  Place  in 
domestication  —  Management 

XVI.    OSTRICHES 230 

Description  —  Origin  and  history  in  domestication  —  Place  in 
domestication  —  Management 


x  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVII.    PIGEONS 239 

Description  —  Origin  —  Distribution  in  ancient  times  —  Im- 
proved varieties — The  Carrier  Pigeon — The  Antwerp  Homer 
—  Tumbler  and  Tippler  Pigeons  —  The  Fantail  Pigeon  — 
Pouter  Pigeons  —  Other  important  types  —  History  in  do- 
mestication —  Place  in  domestication 

XVIII.    MANAGEMENT  OF  PIGEONS  . 255 

Size  of  flock  —  Quarters  for  pigeons  —  Ventilation  and  cleanli- 
ness—  Handling  pigeons — Mating  pigeons — Feeding — How 
pigeons  rear  their  young 

XIX.    CANARIES 269 

Description  —  Origin  —  Improvement  in  domestication  — 
Place  in  domestication  —  Management  of  canaries  :  Cages  — 
Position  of  the  Cage  —  Feeding  —  Care  —  Breeding 

XX.    DISTRIBUTION  OF  MARKET  PRODUCTS 275 

Producers,  consumers,  and  middlemen  —  How  the  middleman 
enters  local  trade  —Additional  middlemen  —  How  the  demand 
for  poultry  products  stimulates  production  —  Losses  in  distri- 
bution—  Cold  storage  of  poultry  products —  Methods  of  sell- 
ing at  retail  —  Volume  of  products 

XXI.    EXHIBITIONS  AND  THE  FANCY  TRADE 291 

Conditions  in  the  fancy  trade  —  Exhibitions — Rudiments  of 
judging — Disqualifications  —  Methods  of  judging — Exhibition 
quality  and  value  —  Why  good  breeders  have  much  low-priced 
stock  —  Fancy  and  utility  types  in  the  same  variety 

XXII.    OCCUPATIONS  RELATED  TO  AVICULTURE      .     .     .     .     304 

Judging  fancy  poultry  and  pigeons  —  Journalism — Art — In- 
vention—  Education  and  investigation  —  Manufacturing  and 
commerce — Legislation  and  litigation 

INDEX 311 


OUR    DOMESTIC    BIRDS 

CHAPTER  I 

BIRDS   AND  THEIR  RELATIONS   TO  MAN 

Definition  of  a  bird.  A  bird  is  a  feathered  animal.  The 
covering  of  feathers  is  the  only  character  common  to  all  birds 
and  not  possessed  by  any  other  creature.  The  other  characters 
—  the  bill,  the  wings,  egg-laying,  etc.  —  by  which  we  usually  dis- 
tinguish birds  from  animals  of  other  kinds  are  not  exclusive 
bird  characters.  Turtles  have  beaks,  and  there  is  one  species 
of  mammal  (the  ornithorhynchus)  which  has  a  bill  like  that 
of  a  duck.  Many  insects  and  one  species  of  mammal  (the 
bat)  fly.  Insects,  fishes,  and  reptiles  lay  eggs,  and  there  are 
several  rare  species  of  mammals  that  lay  eggs  and  incubate 
them.  On  the  other  hand,  some  birds  are  deficient  in  one  or 
more  of  the  typical  bird  characters.  The  ostrich  cannot  fly. 
The  penguin  can  neither  fly  nor  run,  and  cannot  even  walk  well. 
The  cuckoo  lays  its  eggs  in  the  nests  of  other  birds,  leaving  to 
them  the  hatching  and  rearing  of  its  young.  These  exceptional 
cases  are  very  interesting  because  they  show  that  animals  now 
quite  different  in  structure  and  habits  had  a  common  origin,  but 
in  no  case  is  there  such  a  combination  of  characters  that  any 
doubt  arises  whether  the  creature  is  a  bird  or  a  mammal.  The 
characters  which  typically  belong  to  birds  attain  their  highest 
development  in  them,  and  in  most  cases  this  is  due  to  peculiar 
adaptabilities  of  the  feathers. 

The  Anglo-Saxons'  name  for  a  bird  was  fngol  (the  flying 
animal).  The  young  feathered  creature  they  called  bridd  (the 


DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

tRrngjlsropdecJ).'  ;Thi$  jiame;  was  also  sometimes  given  to  young 
mammals,  but  it  applied  especially  to  the  young  of  feathered 
creatures  which  were  more  dependent  upon  the  parent  for 
warmth  than  others.  Our  English  words  "  fowl  "  and  "  bird  " 
come  from  these  Anglo-Saxon  terms.  At  first  "fowl  "  was  ap- 
plied to  large  birds  and  "bird  "  to  small  ones,  but  gradually  the  use 
of  the  name  "fowl"  was  limited  to  the  common  domestic  fowl, 
and  "bird"  became  the  generic  name  for  all  feathered  creatures. 

Place  of  birds  in  the  animal  kingdom.  Zoologists  rank  mam- 
mals higher  than  birds  because  man  is  a  mammal  and  his 
general  superiority  to  other  creatures  determines  the  rank  of 
the  class  to  which  he  belongs.  Yet,  while  placing  birds  below 
mammals  in  a  simple  classification  of  animals,  naturalists  point 
out  that  birds  are  the  most  distinct  class  in  the  animal  kingdom. 
If  we  compare  birds  and  the  lower  mammals,  and  compare  the 
relations  of  each  class  to  man,  we  see  at  once  that  nothing  else 
could  take  the  place  of  birds  either  in  nature  or  in  civilization. 
Among  birds  are  found  the  highest  developments  of  animal 
locomotion  and  of  the  natural  voice,  capacity  for  language  far 
beyond  that  of  other  creatures  (except  man),  and  family  and 
community  relations  resembling  those  of  the  human  race. 
Hitherto  in  the  history  of  the  world  mammals  have  been  more 
useful  to  man  than  birds,  but  birds  have  given  him  some  of  his 
best  ideas,  and  with  the  advance  of  civilization  the  lower  mam- 
mals become  less  necessary  and  birds  more  necessary  to  him. 

Flight  of  birds.  It  has  been  said  that  "  on  the  earth  and 
on  the  sea  man  has  attained  to  powers  of  locomotion  with 
which,  in  strength,  endurance,  and  velocity,  no  animal  move- 
ment can  compare.  But  the  air  is  an  element  on  which  he 
cannot  travel,  an  ocean  which  he  cannot  navigate.  The  birds 
of  heaven  are  still  his  envy,  and  on  the  paths  they  tread  he 
cannot  follow." 

Since  that  was  written  practical  flying  machines  have  been 
invented,  but  in  these,  as  in  boats  and  ships,  man  has  merely 


BIRDS  AND  THEIR  RELATIONS  TO  MAN  3 

devised  a  machine  which  under  his  control  can  do  laboriously 
and  at  great  risk  what  the  bird  does  naturally  and  easily.  To 
birds  man  is  indebted  for  his  first  lessons  in  navigating  the 
water  as  well  as  for  his  ideas  about  airships. 

Voices  of  birds.  With  few  exceptions  the  different  kinds  of 
animals  have  natural  languages  through  which  individuals  of 
the  same  species  can  to  some  extent  hold  communication  with 
each  other,  and  which  are  partly  intelligible  to  other  creatures. 
In  all  mammals  except  man,  and  in  most  birds,  the  range  of 
expression  is  very  limited  and  the  sound  of  the  voice  is  dis- 
agreeable ;  but  a  great  many  species  of  birds  have  very  pleasing 
notes,  many  have  very  beautiful  natural  songs,  and  some  readily 
learn  the  songs  of  other  species.  Man  learned  melody  from 
the  song  birds.  There  are  also  many  species  of  birds  that  can 
imitate  a  great  variety  of  sounds,  and  even  learn  to  speak  words 
and  short  sentences.  Birds  that  learn  to  talk  often  show  intel- 
ligence in  their  use  of  words.  This  is  the  more  remarkable  be- 
cause the  intelligence  of  birds  is  not  of  a  high  order,  but  is 
distinctly  inferior  to  that  of  the  common  domesticated  mammals. 

Social  relations  of  birds.  In  aerial  birds  (except  the  cuckoos) 
the  male  and  female  pair,  build  a  nest,  and  both  take  part 
in  the  incubation  of  the  eggs  and  the  feeding  of  the  young. 
Usually  a  pair  once  mated  remain  mated  for  life  and  are  very 
devoted  to  each  other.  In  wild  land  birds  the  pairing  habit  is 
not  of  advantage  to  a  species,  but  still  the  tendency  to  single 
matings  is  very  strong.  When  land  and  water  birds  are  domes- 
ticated man  tries  to  break  them  of  this  habit  because  the  males 
produce  no  eggs  and  he  prefers  to  eat  them  while  they  are 
young  and  their  flesh  is  tender.  But,  as  will  appear  in  detail 
when  the  different  species  of  birds  of  this  class  are  described, 
he  does  not  always  succeed  in  doing  this.  Even  the  domestic 
fowl  and  duck,  in  which  pairing  has  been  prevented  for  cen- 
turies, often  show  a  strong  tendency  to  pair ;  and  the  females 
with  broods  of  young  usually  separate  from  the  flock  until  the 


4  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

little  ones  no  longer  need  their  care.  With  this  separate  family 
life  there  is  still  in  most  species  of  birds  concerted  action  by 
communities  in  migrations,  in  forming  colonies,  in  attacks  on 
other  creatures,  and  in  defense  from  enemies.  From  the  earliest 
times  of  which  we  have  knowledge  the  devotion  of  birds  to 
their  mates  and  to  their  young  has  afforded  the  most  common 
and  most  beautiful  illustration  of  family  life  in  nature. 

Place  of  birds  in  domestication.  The  place  of  birds  among 
domestic  animals  corresponds  to  that  of  garden  vegetables,  small 
fruits,  and  flowers  among  cultivated  plants.  The  great  staple 
agricultural  crops  —  corn,  wheat,  oats,  barley,  hay,  apples,  or- 
anges, horses,  cattle,  sheep,  hogs,  etc.  —  are  produced  mostly  by 
men  who  make  farming  and  stock-growing  their  business.  But, 
while  large  quantities  of  garden  vegetables,  small  fruits,  flowers, 
poultry,  pigeons,  etc.  are  grown  by  people  who  specialize  in 
them,  the  greater  part  of  the  supply  in  all  lands  comes  from 
small  gardens  and  small  flocks  on  ordinary  farms  and  in  the 
back  yards  of  town  homes. 

Uses  of  birds  in  domestication.  With  the  exception  of  the 
cage  birds  and  the  ostrich,  all  our  domestic  birds  are  valuable 
for  their  flesh  ;  but,  as  some  kinds  can  be  produced  more  easily 
and  cheaply  than  others,  people  growing  birds  for  the  table  give 
most  attention  to  those  that  can  be  grown  most  profitably,  and 
the  others  are  grown  principally  by  those  who  prize  them  for 
rarity,  beauty,  or  some  peculiar  quality. 

The  eggs  of  all  birds  are  edible,  but  birds  differ  greatly  in  the 
number  of  eggs  that  they  lay  and  in  the  disposition  to  lay  them 
in  places  provided  for  the  purpose.  So,  nearly  all  who  keep 
birds  for  their  eggs  keep  fowls,  which  are  the  most  prolific  and 
most  docile,  and  hens'  eggs  are  the  staple  eggs  in  the  markets. 

The  feathers  of  birds  are  used  for  pillows  and  beds,  for  feather 
dusters,  and  in  various  ways  for  ornament.  Except  in  the  case 
of  the  ostrich,  however,  the  value  of  the  feathers  of  domesticated 
birds  is  so  small  that  no  one  grows  birds  primarily  for  their 


BIRDS  AND  THEIR  RELATIONS  TO  MAN  5 

feathers.  On  the  other  hand,  those  who  keep  birds  for  pleasure 
find  their  greatest  enjoyment  in  breeding  them  with  colors  and 
markings  difficult  to  produce.  Choice  specimens  of  fancy-bred 
birds  bring  prices  many  times  greater  than  the  value  of  their 
flesh  and  eggs  for  food  and  of  their  feathers  for  use  or  orna- 
ment. Fancy  feathers  have  no  more  value  than  others  except 
on  the  living  birds. 

While  those  who  keep  birds  for  pleasure  nowadays  give  most 
attention  to  breeding  fancy  stock  for  exhibition,  several  kinds  of 
pigeons  are  kept  to  entertain  by  their  flying  performances  ; 
and  —  outside  of  the  limited  class  of  those  who  breed  them  es- 
pecially for  exhibition  —  canaries  are  valued  according  to  ability 
to  sing.  The  brutal  sport  of  cockfighting  was  a  popular  pastime 
with  our  ancestors  until  prohibited  by  law,  and  is  still  prevalent 
in  many  lands.  In  early  times  birds  of  prey  were  captured  when 
very  young  and  carefully  trained  to  hunt  for  their  masters. 
Under  the  feudal  system  there  were  regulations  prescribing  the 
kinds  of  birds  which  different  classes  of  men  might  use  in  this 
way  :  the  eagle  and  vulture  were  for  emperors  only  ;  the  gyrfal- 
con  for  kings  ;  the  lesser  falcons  for  nobles  ;  the  harrier  for  es- 
quires ;  the  merlin  for  ladies  ;  the  goshawk  for  yeomen  ;  the 
kestrel  for  servants  ;  the  sparrow  hawk  for  priests. 

Much  of  the  value  of  various  kinds  of  poultry  comes  from 
their  ability  to  destroy  insects  which  damage  vegetation,  and  to 
maintain  themselves  on  these  and  on  foods  not  available  for 
the  larger  domestic  mammals.  The  services  of  poultry  in  this 
respect  being  limited  to  those  insects  that  can  be  secured  from 
the  ground,  and  to  areas  on  which  the  birds  can  live  safely  and 
do  no  damage  to  crops,  we  are  dependent  upon  wild  aerial 
birds  to  keep  insect  life  in  check  on  trees  and  high  bushes  and 
on  land  not  occupied  by  poultry. 

Place  of  wild  birds  in  civilization.  As  no  insect-eating  aerial 
birds  have  been  domesticated,  the  preservation  of  wild  birds 
that  destroy  insects  is  of  as  much  importance  to  man  as  the 


6  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

production  of  domestic  birds.  Indeed,  the  wild  birds  are  much 
more  valuable  to  us  in  the  wild  state  than  they  would  be  if 
domesticated. 

In  nature  species  prey  upon  each  other  —  the  lowest  forms  of 
life  upon  inorganic  and  decayed  matter,  the  higher  forms  upon 
the  lower,  the  larger  creatures  upon  the  smaller,  the  savage 
upon  the  defenseless.  Fertile  lands  not  only  produce  luxu- 
riant vegetation  but  teem  with  insect  life,  which,  if  not  kept  in 
check,  would  soon  destroy  that  vegetation.  In  tropical  and 
semitropical  regions  there  are  mammals,  some  of  them  quite 
large,  which  feed  upon  insects.  In  temperate  regions  where 
insects  are  not  to  be  obtained  during  the  winter,  there  would 
be  no  adequate  check  upon  their  increase  and  the  consequent 
destruction  of  vegetation  if  it  were  not  for  the  vast  numbers 
of  insect-eating  migratory  birds  which  come  to  these  regions 
for  the  summer.  Necessary  as  these  birds  are  to  vegetation  on 
uncultivated  lands,  they  are  more  necessary  in  cultivated  fields, 
orchards,  -  and  gardens  where  the  crops  are  more  attractive  to 
insects  than  the  mixed  vegetation  on  wild  lands.  As  insect 
destroyers  the  domestic  birds  that  are  kept  on  cultivated  lands 
only  fill  the  place  of  the  nonmigratory  wild  birds  that  have 
been  driven  away  or  exterminated.  So  it  is  to  the  interest  of 
every  one  to  protect  insect-eating  wild  birds,  for  although  these 
birds  may  do  some  damage  to  crops,  their  service  usually  more 
than  pays  for  it. 

Classes  of  domestic  birds.  There  are  three  classes  of  domestic 
birds  —  poultry,  pigeons,  and  cage  birds.  The  poultry  class  com- 
prises land  and  water  birds  and  contains  nine  kinds  —  fowls, 
ducks,  geese,  turkeys,  guineas,  peafowls,  pheasants,  swans,  and 
ostriches.  The  pigeon  class  has  but  one  kind,  the  pigeon, 
which  is  the  only  aerial  bird  domesticated  for  economic  pur- 
poses. The  cage-bird  class  has  as  its  most  important  repre- 
sentative the  canary.  The  other  birds  of  this  class  have  never 
been  popular  in  America. 


BIRDS  AND  THEIR  RELATIONS  TO  MAN  J 

The  question  of  increasing  the  number  of  species  of  birds  in 
domestication  interests  many  people.  There  is  a  general  impres- 
sion among  those  not  familiar  with  the  commercial  aspect  of  avi- 
culture that  many  more  species  might  be  domesticated.  While 
it  is  true  that  many  birds  capable  of  domestication  have  not 
been  domesticated,  there  are  few  of  these  that  would  serve  any 
purpose  not  better  served  by  some  species  already  domesticated. 
It  will  be  shown  as  the  different  kinds  and  varieties  of  domestic 
birds  are  discussed  that  the  most  useful  kinds  are  always  the 
most  popular,  and  that  many  others  are  kept  principally  as  orna- 
ments. The  number  of  ornamental  creatures  that  can  be  kept 
in  domestication  is  limited,  for  as  a  rule  animals,  like  people, 
must  earn  their  living. 


CHAPTER  II 

CHARACTERS  AND  HABITS  OF  BIRDS  RELATED  TO  USE 

Feathers.  The  feathers  of  a  bird  are  the  most  highly  devel- 
oped form  of  protective  covering  in  animals,  serving  other 
important  functions  in  addition  to  the  primary  one.  Compared 
with  the  hair  of  a  mammal  or  the  scale  of  a  fish  or  of  a  reptile, 
a  typical  soft  feather  from  the  body  of  a  bird  is  a  very  complex 
structure,  partaking  of  the  characters  of  both  scales  and  hair. 
The  fact  that  birds  have  scales  and  hair  as  well  as  feathers  shows 
their  relation  to  these  other  forms  of  animal  covering.  This  is 
best  observed  on  a  fowl.  The  legs  of  a  fowl  are  normally  smooth, 
with  scales  on  the  front  of  the  shank  and  on  the  upper  surfaces 
of  the  toes.  In  feather-legged  fowls  the  feathers  appear  first 
along  the  outer  sides  of  the  shanks  and  toes.  As  the  number  of 
feathers  is  increased  they  grow  longer  and  more  feathers  appear, 
until  in  the  most  heavily  feathered  specimens  the  soft  skin  is 
covered  and  the  scales  are  almost  hidden. 

The  face  of  a  fowl  is  normally  almost  bare,  the  skin  being  a 
bright  red  like  the  comb  and  wattles  ;  but  at  a  distance  of  a  few 
feet  we  can  usually  see  some  very  small,  fine  feathers  on  it,  and  if 
we  examine  closely  we  see  in  addition  still  finer  growths  —  hairs. 
Among  the  body  feathers  of  a  fowl,  too,  are  quite  long  hairs. 
These  are  most  easily  observed  after  a  bird  is  plucked.  They  do 
not  come  out  with  the  feathers,  and  are  removed  by  singeing. 

Structure  of  feathers.  The  smallest  feather  that  to  the  naked 
eye  appears  as  something  more  complex  than  a  hair,  looks  like 
a  little  bunch  of  fuzzy  filaments.  This  is  called  down. 

In  the  next  higher  form  of  feather  a  small  round  quill  appears 
with  filaments  protruding  from  it  like  the  hairs  in  an  artist's 

8 


CHARACTERS  AND   HABITS  OF   BIRDS  9 

brush.  Such  a  feather  is  called  a  stub  feather,  or  simply  a  stub. 
The  best  place  to  find  these  is  on  the  outside  of  the  shank  of  a 
fowl  with  scantily  feathered  legs. 

The  first  form  of  the  complete  feather  is  best  observed  either 
on  the  head  of  a  fowl  or  at  the  hock  joint.  The  feathers  in  these 
places  are  very  small,  yet  complete.  The  round  quill  is  length- 
ened into  a  shaft.  Extending  from  each  side  of  this  shaft  is  a 
single  row  of  filaments,  called  barbs,  the  edges  of  which,  inter- 
locked with  little  hooks,  form  the  web  of  the  feather.  On  other 
parts  of  the  body  of  the  bird  the  feathers  are  larger,  but  the 
general  structure  is  always  the  same.  The  size  and  special 
structure  of  the  feather  are  always  adjusted  to  suit  the  part  on 
which  it  grows  or  the  service  which  it  has  to  perform. 

As  the  first  function  of  the  feathers  is  to  keep  the  bird  dry 
and  warm,  the  body  feathers  are  all  soft  as  compared  with  the 
large  stiff  feathers  of  the  wings  and  tail ;  yet  as  we  look  at  the 
feathers  on  different  parts  of  the  body  of  a  bird  we  notice  dif- 
ferences in  their  structure,  and  also  notice  that  the  structure  of  a 
feather  is  not  always  the  same  throughout  its  length.  On  the  ex- 
posed parts  of  the  feathers  of  the  neck,  back,  wings,  and  breast 
the  web  is  perfect  and  the  feathers  overlap  so  closely  that  they 
present  a  smooth  surface.  Under  the  surface,  especially  next 
the  skin,  the  barbs  are  not  smoothly  joined,  but  are  fluffy.  Thus 
the  same  feathers  which  present  a  hard,  smooth  surface  to  the 
weather  provide  a  soft,  warm  garment  next  the  skin.  Under 
the  wings  and  on  the  underside  of  the  body  the  feathers  are 
quite  fluffy  throughout  their  whole  length. 

Arrangement  of  the  feathers.  As  you  look  at  a  living  bird 
the  feathers  appear  to  grow  on  all  parts  of  the  body.  When  the 
feathers  are  removed  from  the  bird  you  see  that  while  the  skin 
is  nearly  all  rough,  with  the  little  elevations  where  the  feathers 
were  removed,  there  are  quite  large  areas  where  the  skin  is  per- 
fectly smooth,  showing  that  no  feathers  grew  there.  These 
places  are  bare  because  feathers  on  them  would  interfere  with 


10  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

the  movements  of  the  bird.  The  feathers  on  adjacent  parts 
give  the  smooth  areas  sufficient  protection. 

Decorative  feather  forms.  The  natural  decorative  forms  of 
plumage  are  found  mostly  in  male  birds  and  consist  of  extraor- 
dinary developments  of  the  plumage  of  the  neck  and  back, 
where  the  male  birds  of  some  species  always  have  feathers 
differing  in  form  from  the  feathers  on  the  same  parts  of  the 
female.  When  a  feather  appendage  not  common  to  a  species  is 
developed  on  some  varieties,  as  the  crest  and  beard  on  fowls 
and  the  ruff  on  pigeons,  both  sexes  have  it.  The  most  inter- 
esting feather  decorations  will 
be  described  particularly  in  the 
chapters  on  the  species  on  which 
they  occur. 

Color  in  feathers.  While  colors 
in  the  plumage  are  distributed 
very  differently  in  different 
species  of  birds,  often  mak- 
ing combinations  peculiar  to  a 
FIG.  i.  Brown  Leghorn  chick  species,  there  is  in  all  the  same 

wonderful  formation  of  patterns, 

that  depends  for  its  effect  in  a  section  upon  some  overlap- 
ping feathers  being  marked  alike  and  others  having  a  different 
marking ;  and  for  the  effect  in  a  single  feather,  upon  adjacent 
barbs  being  now  alike,  now  different,  in  the  distribution  of  the 
pigment  in  them.  The  best  common  example  of  a  pattern  cover- 
ing a  series  of  feathers  is  found  on  the  wing  of  a  Mallard  Duck 
or  of  a  Rouen  Duck.  Interesting  examples  of  the  formation  of 
patterns  on  a  single  feather  may  be  found  in  the  plumage  of 
barred,  laced,  and  penciled  fowls,  and  also  in  the  lacings  on 
the  body  feathers  of  the  females  of  the  varieties  of  ducks  men- 
tioned. Perhaps  the  most  interesting  illustrations  of  this  kind, 
however,  are  to  be  seen  on  the  plain  feathers  of  the  guinea  and 
the  gorgeous  tail  of  the  peacock. 


CHARACTERS  AND  HABITS  OF   BIRDS  II 

The  pigment  which  colors  the  plumage  may  be  found  in 
soluble  form  in  the  quills  of  immature  colored  feathers.  It  is 
not  conspicuous  unless  it  is  quite  dark.  In  black  fowls  it  is  often 
so  abundant  that  a  part  remains  in  the  skin  when  the  feathers 
are  removed.  After  the  pigment  is  deposited  in  the  web  of  the 
feather  the  color  is  fast.  Water  does  not  affect  it,  but  it  fades 
a  little  with  age  and  exposure.  New  plumage  usually  contains 
a  great  deal  of  oil,  a  condition  which  is  most  conspicuous  in 
white  birds,  to  whose  plumage  the  oil  gives  a  creamy  tint.  In 
colored  birds  the  presence  of  a  large  amount  of  oil  in  feathers 
is  desirable  because  it  gives  greater  brilliance  to  the  plumage. 


FIG.  2.  White  Leghorn  chicks  (ten  days  old) 

Growth  and  molting  of  feathers.  The  first  covering  of  a  young 
bird  is  down.  The  young  of  birds  which  nest  on  the  ground 
have  the  down  covering  when  hatched ;  others  acquire  it  in  a 
few  days.  In  small  land  birds  which  feather  quickly,  as  Leg- 
horn and  Hamburg  chicks,  the  largest  wing  feathers  may  have 
started  to  grow  before  the  chick  leaves  the  egg.  In  most  kinds 
of  poultry,  however,  the  young  show  no  signs  of  feathers  for 
some  days.  The  down  is  gradually  replaced  by  small  feathers, 
and  these  by  larger  feathers  as  the  bird  grows.  As  feathers  in 
all  stages  of  growth  are  found  on  the  young  bird  at  the  same 
time,  it  is  not  known  whether  all  feathers  are  molted  the  same 
number  of  times.  In  cases  where  some  feathers  were  marked 
and  watched,  or  where  the  colors  changed  with  the  changing 
feathers,  it  appeared  that  after  the  down  three  sets  of  feathers 


12  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

were  grown  in  succession,  the  third  and  last  making  the  adult 
plumage  of  the  bird.  This  coat  remains  until  the  following 
summer  or  fall,  when  it  is  molted  and  replaced  by  a  new  one. 

Flight.  The  habit  of  flying  is  objectionable  in  domestic  birds 
because  it  makes  them  more  difficult  to  control.  It  has  no  di- 
rect use  except  in  pigeons  kept  for  flying.  There  is,  however, 
a  very  important  connection  between  development  for  flying 
and  the  value  of  birds  for  the  table.  The  muscles  of  the  wings 
furnish  the  greater  part  of  the  edible  meat  of  most  birds.  The 
most  desirable  birds  for  food  purposes  are  those  which  have  the 
wing  muscles  well  developed,  yet  not  quite  strong  enough  to 
enable  them  to  fly  easily.  In  such  birds  the  breast  meat  re- 
mains comparatively  soft  through  life,  while  in  birds  that  fly 
well  it  becomes  hard  in  a  very  short  time.  That  is  why  the 
breast  meat  of  the  pigeon  is  relatively  tougher  in  an  old  bird 
than  the  breast  meat  of  a  fowl  or  turkey. 

The  balance  between  capacity  for  flight  and  neglect  to  use  it, 
which  is  desired  in  birds  grown  for  the  table,  is  secured  by 
giving  them  opportunity  to  exercise  their  wings  moderately  but 
not  for  progressive  practice  in  flying,  which  would  soon  enable 
them  to  fly  easily  over  the  fences  used  to  confine  them.  To  regu- 
late such  exercise  the  perches  for  birds  that  roost  are  made 
low,  or  in  an  ascending  series  in  which  each  perch  after  the 
first  is  reached  from  the  one  below  it,  while  fences  are  made  so 
much  higher  than  the  distance  the  bird  is  accustomed  to  fly 
that  the  failures  of  its  first  efforts  to  go  over  them  discourage 
it.  Ducks  and  geese,  which  do  not  roost,  flap  their  wings  a 
great  deal,  and  if  they  have  room  often  exercise  them  by  half 
running  and  half  flying  along  the  ground. 

Mechanism  of  the  wing.  In  its  structure  and  in  the  muscular 
power  that  moves  it,  the  wing  of  a  bird  is  a  wonderful  piece  of 
mechanism.  A  bird  in  flying  strikes  the  air  with  its  wings  so 
rapidly  that  the  movements  cannot  be  accurately  counted.  The 
heron,  which  is  a  slow-flying  bird,  makes  from  one  hundred 


CHARACTERS  AND  HABITS  OF  BIRDS  13 

twenty  to  one  hundred  fifty  downward  strokes  of  its  wings  a 
minute.  As  each  downward  stroke  must  be  preceded  by  an  up- 
ward stroke,  this  means  that  the  wings  make  from  two  hundred 
forty  to  three  hundred  separate  movements  a  minute.  In  such 
swift-flying  birds  as  the  pigeon  the  movements  of  the  wings 
can  be  distinguished  but  cannot  be  counted.  The  fastest  move- 
ments of  the  wings  are  not  made  by  the  swiftest  fliers.  In  order 
to  fly  at  all  some  land  birds  with  comparatively  small  wings  have 
to  move  them  so  fast  "that  the  movements  make  a  blur  and  a 
whirring  noise.  The  partridge  is  an  illustration  of  a  bird  of 
this  class. 

If  the  supporting  surface  of  the  wing  of  a  bird  were  made  of 
skin,  like  the  web  of  the  foot  of  a  swimming  bird,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  fold  the  wing  for  each  upward  stroke.  It  is  here 
that  the  structure  of  feathers  adapts  itself  to  the  rapid  action  re- 
quired for  movement  in  the  air.  The  wing  is  not  one  surface 
but  a  series  of  narrow  surfaces  lapping  in  such  a  manner  that 
they  unite  to  form  one  broad  surface  when  the  downward  stroke 
is  made,  and  with  the  upward  stroke  are  separated  so  that  the 
air  passes  between  them.  Greater  power  in  the  downward  stroke 
and  less  resistance  in  the  upward  stroke  are  also  secured  by  the 
curvature  of  the  wing.  The  under  side  is  concave,  the  upper 
side  convex.  Thus  in  the  downward  stroke  the  wing  gathers 
the  air  under  it  and  so  increases  the  pressure,  while  in  the  up- 
ward stroke  it  scatters  the  air  and  reduces  the  pressure. 

If  the  wing  were  equally  rigid  throughout,  the  movement  of 
the  bird  would  be  mostly  upward.  The  bird  in  flying  moves 
forward  because  the  front  of  the  wing  is  rigid  and  the  tips  of 
the  feathers,  which  are  directed  backward,  are  flexible.  So  the 
air  compressed  by  the  wing  in  the  downward  stroke  escapes 
backward,  and  in  doing  so  propels  the  bird  forward.  The 
principle  is  the  same  that  is  applied  in  the  screw  propeller  of 
a  boat  or  an  airship,  except  that  the  wing  vibrates  while  the 
propeller  revolves. 


14  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

The  most  important  function  of  the  tail  in  flight  is  to  balance 
the  bird.  It  is  of  some  assistance  in  steering,  but  a  bird  steers 
its  course  mostly  by  manipulation  of  the  wings. 

Scratching.  With  the  exception  of  the  aquatic  birds  and  the 
ostrich,  all  the  species  of  poultry  belong  to  the  group  called  by 
naturalists  Rasores  or  Scratchers.  Birds  of  this  class  have  legs 
of  moderate  length  and  very  strong,  with  toes  terminating  in  a 
stout  claw.  Normally  they  have  three  toes  upon  which  the  foot 
rests  when  they  are  standing  on  a  flat  surface,  and  a  fourth  toe, 
like  a  thumb,  which  assists  the  other  toes  to  grasp  a  perch.  Some 
individual  birds  and  some  races  of  birds  have  the  fourth  or  hind 
toe  double.  The  leg  of  a  bird  is  so  constructed  that  when  it  is 
bent  as  the  bird  sits  on  a  narrow  support  the  toes  contract  and 
grasp  the  support  and  hold  it  without  any  effort  on  the  part  of 
the  bird.  Thus  the  bird  is  as  secure  in  its  position  on  a  limb 
when  asleep  as  if  wide  awake  and  looking  out  for  itself. 

In  proportion  to  their  ability  to  scratch,  birds  are  able  to  find 
seeds  and  insects  concealed  among  dead  or  living  vegetation  on 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  also  to  dig  below  the  surface. 
Scratching  capacity  is  most  highly  developed  in  the  fowl.  Com- 
pared to  it  the  other  land  birds  are  very  feeble  scratchers,  and 
do  little  damage  by  scratching  if  'free  to  roam  about.  For  ages 
the  scratching  propensity  of  fowls  was  regarded  as  a  vice  in 
them,  but  since  people  began  to  give  special  attention  to  poultry 
they  have  learned  that  fowls  are  much  more  contented  and 
thrifty  in  confinement  if  their  food  is  given  them  in  a  litter  of 
leaves,  straw,  or  shavings,  in  which  they  must  scratch  for  it,  and 
have  also  found  that  to  some  extent  fowls  may  be  used  to  culti- 
vate crops  while  destroying  insects  and  weeds  among  them. 

Swimming.  Capacity  for  swimming  has  an  economic  value 
in  domestic  birds  because  it  adapts  those  possessing  it  to  places 
which  land  birds  rarely  frequent.  It  will  be  shown  when  the 
different  kinds  of  aquatic  birds  are  described  that  each  has  its 
special  place  and  use  in  domestication. 


CHARACTERS  AND   HABITS  OF  BIRDS  15 

The  swimming  faculty  in  these  birds  is  of  further  interest  be- 
cause of  its  relation  to  the  development  of  the  body  plumage. 
If  a  land  bird  is  placed  in  the  water,  the  feathers  are  quickly  sat- 
urated, the  water  penetrating  to  the  skin.  A  duck  or  other  swim- 
ming bird  will  remain  in  the  water  for  hours  without  the  water 
penetrating  the  feathers.  This  is  commonly  supposed  to  be  due 
to  the  presence  of  a  large  amount  of  oil  in  the  feathers,  but  the 
difference  in  the  oiliness  of  the  feathers  of  fowls  and  of  ducks 
is  not  great  enough  to  account  for  the  difference  in  resistance 
to  the  penetration  of  water.  The  peculiar  quality  of  the  plumage 
of  swimming  birds  is  its  density.  If  you  take  up  a  fowl  and 
examine  the  plumage  you  will  find  that  it  is  easy  to  part  the 
feathers  so  that  the  skin  can  be  seen.  It  may  be  done  with  the 
fingers,  or  even  by  blowing  gently  among  the  feathers  with 
the  mouth.  Now  try  to  separate  the  feathers  of  a  duck  so  that 
the  skin  will  be  visible.  You  find  it  much  harder,  because  the 
feathers  are  so  thick  and  soft  and  at  the  same  time  so  elastic. 
The  familiar  phrase  "  like  water  from  a  duck's  back  "  is  not  es- 
pecially appropriate.  The  feathers  on  the  back  of  most  birds 
are  a  very  effective  protection  against  rain.  The  feathers  all 
over  a  duck  are  such  poor  conductors  of  water  that  it  is  hard  to 
remove  them  by  scalding.  The  structure  of  the  plumage  of 
swimming  birds  adds  to  their  buoyancy  in  the  water.  They 
do  not  have  to  exert  themselves  to  remain  on  the  surface,  but 
float  like  cork. 

Foods  and  mode  of  digestion.  All  kinds  of  poultry  and  most 
of  our  common  wild  birds  are  omnivorous  eaters,  but  the  pro- 
portion of  different  foods  usually  taken  is  not  the  same  in  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  birds.  Some  eat  mostly  grains,  some  mostly 
animal  foods.  Some  can  subsist  entirely  on  grass  if  they  can 
get  it  in  a  tender  state  ;  others  eat  very  little  grass.  The  scratch- 
ing birds  like  a  diet  of  about  equal  parts  of  grain,  leaves,  and 
insects.  Pigeons  and  canaries  live  almost  entirely  on  grains  and 
seeds,  but  like  a  little  green  stuff  occasionally. 


16  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

Domestic  birds  which  produce  many  eggs  require  special  sup- 
plies of  food  containing  lime  to  make  the  shells.  Until  within 
a  few  years  it  was  universally  believed — and  it  is  still  commonly 
supposed  —  that  birds  needed  grit  to  take  the  place  of  the  teeth 
nature  did  not  give  them,  and  assist  in  the  grinding  of  the  food 
in  the  gizzard.  Many  close  observers  now  reject  this  idea 
because  they  find  that  birds  supplied  with  digestible  mineral 
foods  do  not  eat  those  that  are  not  digestible.  A  bird  does 
not  need  teeth  to  grind  its  food,  because  it  is  softened  in 
the  crop  and  the  gastric  juice  acts  upon  it  before  the  grinding 
process  begins. 

Peculiarities  of  birds'  eggs.  The  only  animal  foodstuff  pro- 
duced in  a  natural  package,  easily  preserved  and  handled,  is  the 
egg.  In  the  vegetable  world  we  have  a  great  many  such  things  — 
fruits,  seeds,  roots,  nuts,  with  coverings  of  various  textures  to 
protect  the  contents  from  the  air.  In  all  of  these  the  material 
stored  up  is  either  for  the  nourishment  of  the  seeds  in  the  first 
stages  of  growth  as  plants,  or  for  the  nourishment  of  a  new  or 
special  growth.  An  egg  is  the  seed  of  an  animal.  All  animals 
produce  eggs,  but  in  mammals  the  new  life  originating  from 
the  egg  goes  through  the  embryonic  stages  within  the  body  of 
the  parent,  while  in  insects,  fishes,  reptiles,  and  birds  the  egg 
is  laid  by  the  creature  producing  it  before  the  embryo  begins 
to  develop. 

In  mammals  the  embryo  grows  as  a  part  of  the  body  of  the 
parent,  the  substances  which  build  it  up  coming  from  the  parent 
form  as  they  are  needed.  In  birds  a  tiny  germ — the  true  egg  — 
is  put,  with  all  the  material  needed  for  its  development  as  an 
embryo,  in  a  sealed  package,  which  may  be  taken  thousands  of 
miles  away  from  the  parent,  and,  after  lying  dormant  for  weeks, 
may  begin  to  grow  as  soon  as  the  proper  conditions  of  temper- 
ature are  applied.  The  food  value  of  the  germ  of  an  egg  is  in- 
appreciable. We  use  the  egg  to  get  the  material  stored  up  in 
it  for  the  young  bird  which  would  come  from  the  germ. 


CHARACTERS  AND   HABITS  OF  BIRDS  I/ 

Development  of  the  egg.  The  method  of  the  formation  of  an 
egg  is  very  interesting.  It  is  the  same  in  all  birds,  but  is  most 
conveniently  studied  in  fowls.  If  a  laying  hen  is  killed  and  the 
body  is  opened  so  that  the  internal  organs  can  all  be  seen,  one 
of  the  most  conspicuous  of  these  is  a  large,  convoluted  duct 
having  its  outlet  at  the  vent.  In  this  duct,  which  is  called  the 
oviduct,  are  eggs  in  various  stages  of  formation.  At  its  upper 
extremity,  attached  to  the  backbone,  is  a  bunch  of  globular  yel- 
low substances  which  are  at  once  identified  as  yolks  of  eggs  in 
all  sizes.  The  organ  to  which  these  are  attached  is  the  ovary. 
The  smallest  yolks  are  so  small  that  they  cannot  be  seen  with- 
out a  powerful  microscope.  These  yolks  are  not  germs,  but  as 
they  grow  the  germ  forms  on  one  side  of  each  yolk,  where  it 
appears  as  a  small  white  spot. 

When  a  yolk  is  full-grown  it  drops  into  the  funnel-shaped 
mouth  of  the  oviduct.  Here  it  is  inclosed  in  a  membranous 
covering,  called  the  chalazae,  and  receives  a  coating  of  thick 
albumen.  The  function  of  the  chalazae  is  to  keep  the  yolk  sus- 
pended in  the  center  of  the  egg.  It  does  not  merely  inclose 
the  yolk,  but,  twisted  into  cords,  extends  from  either  end  and  is 
attached  to  the  outer  membrane  at  the  end  of  the  egg. 

After  leaving  the  funnel  the  egg  passes  into  a  narrow  part  of 
the  oviduct,  called  the  isthmus,  where  it  receives  the  membra- 
nous coverings  which  are  found  just  inside  the  shell.  From  the 
isthmus  it  goes  into  the  lowest  part  of  the  oviduct  —  the  uterus. 
Here  the  shell  is  formed,  and  at  the  same  time  a  thin  albumen 
enters  through  the  pores  of  the  shell  and  the  shell  membranes 
and  dilutes  the  thick  albumen  first  deposited.  After  this  process 
is  completed  the  egg  may  be  retained  in  the  oviduct  for  some 
time.  It  is,  however,  usually  laid  within  a  few  hours. 

Rate  and  amount  of  egg  production.  In  the  wild  state  a  bird, 
if  not  molested  after  it  begins  laying,  produces  a  number  of 
eggs  varying  in  different  kinds,  according  to  the  number  of 
young  that  can  be  cared  for,  and  then  incubates  them.  If  its 


1 8  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

first  eggs  are  removed  or  destroyed,  the  bird  lays  more,  usually 
changing  the  location  of  its  nest.  In  domestication  the  eggs  of 
most  kinds  of  birds  are  removed  from  the  nests  daily  as  laid, 
and  the  birds  lay  many  more  eggs  before  they  stop  to  incubate 
than  they  do  in  the  wild  state. 

It  is,  and  has  been  for  ages,  the  common  opinion  that  the 
wild  birds  and  poultry,  when  first  domesticated,  were  capable  of 
laying  only  a  small  number  of  eggs  each  season,  and  that  laying 
capacity  has  been  enormously  increased  in  domestication  ;  but 
the  oldest  reports  that  we  have  of  the  amount  of  egg  production 
indicate  that  the  laying  capacity  of  fowls  was  as  great  centuries 
ago  as  it  is  at  the  present  time.  Recent  observations  on  wild 
birds  in  captivity  show  that  even  birds  which  pair  and  usually 
lay  only  a  few  eggs  each  season  have  a  laying  capacity  at  least 
equal  to  the  ordinary  production  of  hens.  Quails  in  captivity 
have  been  known  to  lay  about  one  hundred  eggs  in  a  season, 
and  an  English  sparrow  from  which  the  eggs  were  taken  as  laid 
produced  over  sixty. 

The  constitutional  capacity  to  produce  ovules  is  now  known 
to  be  far  greater  than  the  power  of  any  bird  to  supply  the  ma- 
terial for  the  nourishment  of  germs  through  the  embryonic  stage. 
The  principal  factors  in  large  egg  production  are  abundance  of 
food  and  great  capacity  for  digesting  and  assimilating  it. 

Incubation.  A  bird  before  beginning  to  lay  makes  a  nest. 
Some  birds  build  very  elaborate  and  curious  nests  ;  others  merely 
put  together  a  few  sticks,  or  hollow  out  a  little  place  on  the 
ground.  In  birds  that  pair,  the  male  and  female  work  together 
to  build  the  nest.  Even  in  polygamous  domestic  birds  like  the 
fowl  and  the  duck,  a  male  will  often  make  a  nest  for  the  females 
of  his  family  and  coax  them  to  it  as  a  cock  pigeon  does  his  mate. 

If  the  birds  are  left  to  themselves  and  the  eggs  are  not  mo- 
lested, an  aerial  bird  will  usually  lay  a  number  of  eggs  equal  to 
the  number  of  young  the  parents  can  feed  as  long  as  they  require 
this  attention,  while  a  terrestrial  or  aquatic  bird  will  usually  lay 


CHARACTERS  AND  HABITS  OF  BIRDS  19 

as  many  eggs  as  she  can  cover.    The  desired  number  of  eggs 
having  been  laid,  the  process  of  incubation  by  the  parents  begins. 

The  incubation  of  their  eggs  by  birds  is  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable things  in  nature.  We  say  that  "  instinct "  leads  birds 
to  build  their  nests  and  to  keep  their  eggs  warm  for  a  period 
varying  from  two  weeks  for  small  birds,  to  six  weeks  for  the 
ostrich  ;  but  "  instinct  "  is  only  a  term  to  describe  the  apparently 
intelligent  actions  of  the  lower  animals,  which  we  say  have  not 
intelligence  enough  to  know 
the  reasons  for  the  things 
that  they  do. 

The  mother  of  a  young 
mammal  knows  that  it  came 
from  herself,  and  she  can 
see  that  it  is  like  her  and 
others  of  her  kind.  It  at 
once  seeks  her  care  and 

FIG.  3.  Sitting  hen 
responds  to  her  attentions. 

The  egg  which  a  bird  lays  is  as  lifeless  —  to  all  appearances  — 
as  the  stones  which  it  often  so  closely  resembles.  Only  after 
many  days  or  weeks  of  tiresomely  close  attention  does  it  produce 
a  creature  which  can  respond  to  the  care  lavished  upon  it.  The 
birds  incubating  eggs  not  only  give  them  the  most  unremitting 
attention,  but  those  that  fill  their  nests  with  eggs  before  begin- 
ning to  incubate  methodically  turn  the  eggs  and  change  their 
position  in  the  nest,  this  being  necessary  because  otherwise  the 
eggs  at  the  center  of  the  nest  would  get  too  much  heat  and  those 
at  the  outside  would  not  get  enough.  A  bird  appears  to  know 
that  if  she  begins  to  sit  before  she  has  finished  laying,  some 
of  the  eggs  would  be  spoiled  or  would  hatch  before  the  others  ; 
and,  as  noted  above,  aerial  birds  seem  to  know  better  than  to 
hatch  more  young  than  they  can  rear.  But  no  bird  seems  to  have 
any  idea  of  the  time  required  to  hatch  its  eggs,  or  to  notice  the 
lapse  of  time,  or  to  care  whether  the  eggs  upon  which  it  sits  are 


2O 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


of  its  own  kind  or  of  some  other  kind,  or  to  know  whether  the 
young  when  hatched  are  like  or  unlike  itself.  If  eggs  fail  to 
hatch,  domestic  birds  will,  as  a  rule,  remain  on  the  nest  until  the 


FIG.  4.  Fresh  egg l 


FIG.  5.  Infertile  egg  (after  twenty- 
four  hours'  incubation) 


FIG.  6.  Fertile  egg  (after  twenty- 
four  hours'  incubation) 


FIG.  7.  Embryo  (after  seventy-two 
hours'  incubation) 


eggs  are  taken  away  or  until  sheer  exhaustion  compels  them  to 
abandon  the  hopeless  task.  In  domestication,  however,  those 
birds  which  continue  laying  most  freely  when  their  eggs  are  re- 
moved as  laid,  tend  to  lose  the  habit  of  incubation.  Turkeys  and 


1  Photographs  (Figs.  4-8)  from  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture. 


CHARACTERS  AND  HABITS  OF  BIRDS  21 

geese  will  often  begin  to  incubate  after  having  laid  about  the 
number  of  eggs  that  they  could  cover.  Many  fowls  will  do  the 
same,  but  most  fowls  lay  for  several  months  before  attempting 
to  incubate,  and  in  many  races  not  more  than  two  or  three  per 
cent  of  the  hens  ever  incubate. 

Development  of  the  embryo  in  a  bird's  egg.  The  condition 
required  to  produce  a  live  bird  from  a  fertile  egg  is  the  continu- 
ous application  of  a  temperature  of  about  102  or  103  degrees 


FIG.  8.  Embryo  (after  seven  days'  FIG.  9.  Chick  ready  to  break 

incubation)        .  shell 

Fahrenheit  from  the  time  the  heat  is  first  applied  until  the  em- 
bryo is  fully  developed  and  ready  to  emerge  from  the  shell.  In 
nature  the  heat  is  applied  by  contact  with  the  bodies  of  the 
parent  birds.  Development  of  life  will  start  in  an  egg  at  about 
10  degrees  below  the  temperature  required  to  maintain  it,  but 
at  this  temperature  the  germ  soon  dies.  The  temperature  in 
incubation  may  occasionally  go  higher  than  103  degrees  or  may 
be  as  low  as  70  degrees  for  a  short  time  without  injury  to  the 
germ.  Some  germs  will  stand  greater  extremes  of  temperature 
than  others,  just  as  some  living  creatures  will. 

The  first  stages  of  the  development  of  life  in  the  egg  of  a 
bird  may  be  observed  by  holding  the  eggs  before  a  strong  light 
in  a  darkened  room.  White-shelled  eggs  are  the  best  for  this 


22 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


FIG.  10.  Egg  before  exclusion  and  partially 
excluded  chick 


purpose.  In  about  thirty-six  hours  from  the  beginning  of  incuba- 
tion it  will  be  found  that  the  germ  has  turned  red,  and  little  red 
veins  radiate  from  it  somewhat  like  the  legs  of  a  spider.  For 

several  days  the  egg 
is  quite  translucent 
and  the  yolk  shows 
plainly.  As  the 
germ  grows,  the 
contents  of  the  egg 
become  clouded  and 
dense,  and  the  air 
space  at  the  large 
end  of  the  egg  is 
clearly  defined,  the 

density  being  greatest  near  it.  From  the  time  that  the  egg  be- 
comes dense,  observations  of  development  must  be  made  by 
breaking  one  or  more  eggs  daily  or  every  few  days,  according 
to  the  number  available  for  observation. 

The  embryo  grows  until  it  fills  the  egg.   The  mere  application 
of  heat  to  the  egg  has  gradually  transformed  that  little  germ 
and  the  yellow  and  white  of  egg 
into  bones,  flesh,  skin  (and,  in 
some  cases,  down),  and  all  the 
organs    of    a    living    creature. 
When  the  embryo  has  filled  the 
shell,  it  lies  curled  up,  usually 
with  the  head  at  the  large  end 
of  the  egg  and  the  beak  almost 
touching  the  shell,  at  about  one 
third  of  the  distance  from  the        FlG<  „.  Light  Brahma  (day  old) 
large  to  the  small  end  of  the 

egg.  At  the  point  of  the  beak  of  the  young  bird  on  the  curved 
tip  of  the  upper  mandible  is  a  small  horny  scale.  Without  this 
scale  it  would  be  hard  for  the  embryo  to  break  the  shell  because  it 


CHARACTERS  AND  HABITS  OF  BIRDS  23 

cannot,  as  it  lies,  strike  it  a  direct  blow  with  the  point  of  its  beak. 
This  scale  is  a  remarkable  character.  Its  only  use  is  to  help  the 
bird  out  of  the  shell.  A  few  days  after  exclusion  it  disappears. 

If  you  take  a  hen's  egg  about  the  eighteenth  or  the  nine- 
teenth day  of  incubation  and  hold  it  closely  in  your  hand,  you 
may  be  able  to  feel  the  chick  move.  If  your  hand  is  a  little  bit 
cold,  the  chick  is  much  more  likely  to  squirm  in  the  egg  and 
may  utter  a  peep.  If,  .with  the  egg  in  a  warm  hand,  you  hold  it 
to  your  ear,  you  will  about  this  time  hear  an  occasional  tap, 
tap,  caused  by  the  chicken  striking  its  beak  against  the  shell. 
The  tapping  is  kept  up  more  or  less  steadily  until  the  shell 
cracks  where  the  point  of  the  beak  strikes  it  and  a  little  piece 
is  broken  out.  The  chick  usually  rests  awhile  now,  —  perhaps 
for  some  hours,  —  then  resumes  the  attack  on  the  shell.  It  turns 
in  the  shell,  breaking  out  little  pieces  as  it  turns,  until  there  is 
a  crack  nearly  all  the  way  around,  when,  by  pushing  with  its  head 
and  feet,  it  forces  the  shell  apart  and  sprawls  out  of  it. 

The  process  is  the  same  for  all  birds,  except  that  those  that 
take  longest  to  develop  in  the  shell  take  a  longer  rest  after  first 
breaking  it.  The  young  of  aerial  birds,  which  are  naked  when 
hatched,  are  ugly  little  things.  Young  poultry,  too,  are  almost 
repulsive  with  their  sprawling  forms  and  the  wet  down  plastered 
to  the  skin,  but  in  a  few  hours  they  grow  strong,  the  down  dries 
and  becomes  fluffy,  the  bright  little  eyes  seem  to  take  in  every- 
thing, and  they  are  the  most  attractive  of  all  baby  animals. 


CHAPTER  III 
SPECIES  AND  THEIR  DIVISIONS  IN  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

The  three  general  classes  of  domestic  birds  include  few  spe- 
cies but  many  varieties,  and,  outside  of  the  distinct  varieties, 
an  indefinite  number  of  individual  types.  Where  varieties  are 
as  numerous  as  in  the  fowl,  which  has  about  three  hundred,  and 
the  pigeon,  which  has  a  much  greater  number,  the  differences 
between  them  are  often  very  slight.  Sometimes  the  form  of  a 
single  small  character  is  the  only  distinguishing  feature.  But, 
if  this  is  a  fixed  character,  the  variety  is  distinct.  Where  there 
are  so  many  varieties  it  is  hard  to  make  short,  appropriate  de- 
scriptive names  for  all,  if  considered  simply  as  varieties.  For 
such  diversity  there  must  be  a  more  extended  classification. 
Such  a  classification,  growing  gradually  with  the  increase  in  the 
number  of  varieties,  will  not  be  consistent  throughout.  Hence 
to  understand  clearly  the  relations  of  the  artificial  divisions 
of  species  in  domestication  we  must  know  what  a  species  is 
and  how  these  divisions  arise. 

Definition  of  species.  Species  are  the  natural  divisions  of 
living  things.  Each  plant  and  animal  species  retains  its  dis- 
tinctive character  through  long  ages  because  the  individuals 
composing  it  can  produce  perfect  offspring  only  (if  asexual)  of 
themselves,  or  (if  bisexual)  with  others  of  their  species. 

The  self-isolation  of  species  is  well  illustrated  when  similar 
plants  grow  together,  as  grasses  in  the  same  field  and  practi- 
cally on  the  same  spot ;  yet  year  after  year  all  the  old  kinds  are 
found  and  no  new  ones  such  as  might  come  from  a  mixture  of 
two  kinds,  if  they  would  mix.  In  the  higher  animals,  where  the 
parent  forms  are  of  different  sexes,  they  choose  mates  of  their 

24 


SPECIES  IN   DOMESTIC   BIRDS  25 

own  kind,  and  so  each  species  remains  distinct ;  but  if  in  a 
species  there  are  many  different  types,  such  as  we  find  in 
domestic  fowls,  the  members  of  the  species,  when  free  to  do 
so,  mate  as  readily  with  types  quite  different  from  their  own  as 
with  individuals  exactly  like  them,  and  produce  offspring  of  in- 
termediate types  with  all  the  essential  characters  of  the  species. 
In  domestication  individuals  of  distinct  yet  similar  species  are 
sometimes  mated  and  produce  offspring  called  hybrids,  but 
these  are  sterile.  The  mule,  which  is  a  hybrid  between  the  ass 
and  the  mare,  is  the  most  familiar  animal  of  this  kind.  Hybrid, 
or  mule,  cage  birds  are  produced  by  crossing  the  canary  with 
several  allied  species.  Among  other  domestic  birds  hybrids  are 
almost  unknown. 

Origin  of  species.  Until  near  the  close  of  the  last  century  it 
was  commonly  believed  that  each  species  had  been  created  in 
perfect  form  and  that  species  were  unchangeable  ;  but  long  be- 
fore that  time  some  keen  students  of  the  natural  sciences  and 
close  observers  of  the  changes  that  take  place  in  plants  and 
animals  in  domestication  had  discovered  that  species  were  not 
perfectly  stable  and  were  changing  slowly.  Geologists  estab- 
lished the  fact  that  the  earth,  instead  of  being  only  a  few  thou- 
sand years  old,  had  existed  for  countless  centuries.  Among 
fossil  remains  of  creatures  unlike  any  now  known  they  had 
found  also  other  forms  which  appeared  to  be  prototypes  of  ex- 
isting species.  The  idea  that  the  forms  of  life  now  on  the  earth 
had  come  from  earlier  and  somewhat  different  forms  had  occur- 
red to  several  scientists  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  but  it 
was  not  until  about  1860  that  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  pro- 
gressive development  of  forms  of  life  was  given  to  the  world. 
This  mode  of  creation  is  called  evolution. 

The  theory  of  evolution  is  that  partly  through  their  own 
inherent  tendency  to  vary  and  partly  through  the  influence  of 
external  things  which  affect  them,  all  organisms  change  slowly ; 
that  things  of  the  same  kind,  separated  and  living  under  different 


26  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

conditions,  may  in  time  so  change  that  they  become  separate 
species  ;  and  that  this  process  may  be  repeated  indefinitely,  the 
number  of  species  constantly  increasing  and  becoming  more 
diversified  and  more  highly  developed. 

Such  a  theory  would  not  be  entitled  to  serious  consideration 
unless  it  was  known  that  the  earth  was  millions  of  years  old, 
because  we  know  that  races  of  fowls  separated  for  over  three 
thousand  years  (and  perhaps  twice  as  long)  and  developed  into 
quite  different  varieties  will  breed  together  as  readily  as  those  of 
the  same  variety.  But  when  it  is  certain  that  the  earth  is  so  old 
that  there  has  been  ample  time  for  changes  in  living  forms  that 
would  require  periods  of  time  beyond  our  comprehension,  some 
of  the  relations  of  varieties  and  species  of  birds  have  an  impor- 
tant bearing  on  the  theory  of  evolution. 

As  in  the  case  of  fowls  just  noted,  we  find  that  domestic 
ducks  of  the  same  species,  after  a  separation  of  several  thou- 
sand years,  breed  freely  together.  But  our  domestic  ducks  are 
not,  like  the  fowls,  all  of  the  same  species,  and  if  individuals  of 
different  species  are  paired  they  produce  only  a  few  weak  hy- 
brids. Our  domestic  geese  are  probably  descended  from  two 
wild  varieties,  but  races  that  were  not  brought  together  for  thou- 
sands of  years  after  they  were  domesticated  are  perfectly  fertile 
together,  while  when  mated  with  the  American  Wild  Goose, 
which  is  not  domesticated  but  will  breed  in  captivity,  they  pro- 
duce only  hybrids.  The  general  resemblance  between  geese  and 
ducks  is  very  striking,  yet  they  will  not  breed  together  at  all. 

A  comparison  of  these  facts  indicates  that  while  three  thou- 
sand, or  even  five  or  six  thousand,  years  of  separation  may  not 
be  enough  to  break  down  the  natural  affinity  of  varieties  of  the 
same  species,  separation  and  difference  of  development  will 
eventually  make  of  varieties  distinct  species,  a  union  of  which 
will  produce  only  hybrids,  while  a  longer  separation  and  further 
increase  of  differences  makes  the  break  between  the  species 
absolute  and  they  will  not  breed  together  at  all. 


SPECIES  IN  DOMESTIC  BIRDS  27 

Natural  varieties.  A  species  having  developed  as  a  variety 
of  an  earlier  species  will  continue  to  develop  as  one  variety  or 
as  several  varieties,  according  to  conditions.  If  a  part  of  a  species 
becomes  so  separated  from  the  rest  that  intercourse  ceases,  each 
division  of  the  species  may  become  a  well-defined  variety. 

Varieties  in  domestication.  How  a  species  when  domesti- 
cated breaks  up  into  varieties  is  well  illustrated  by  the  case  of 
the  fowl.  The  original  wild  species  has  long  disappeared,  but 
there  is  good  reason  to  suppose  that  in  size  and  color  it  was 
something  between  a  Brown  Pit  Game  and  a  Brown  Leghorn. 
The  birds  were  smaller  than  most  fowls  seen  in  this  country  to- 
day. The  prevailing  color  was  a  dull  brown,  because  that  color 
best  conceals  a  small  land  bird  from  its  enemies.  Fowls  that 
were  domesticated  and  given  good  care  and  an  abundance  of 
food  would  usually  grow  larger  than  the  wild  stock.  Thus  if 
any  person,  or  the  people  generally  in  any  community,  system- 
atically gave  their  fowls  good  care,  a  variety  of  unusual  size 
would  be  developed. 

Different  colors  would  also  appear  in  the  flocks  of  fowls,  be- 
cause the  birds  of  unusual  colors  would  be  protected  and  pre- 
served, instead  of  being  destroyed  as  they  usually  are  in  the  wild 
state.  Other  peculiarities,  too,  such  as  large  combs,  crests,  and 
feathered  legs,  would  be  developed  in  some  lands  and  neglected 
in  others.  This  is  how  it  happened  that  after  thousands  of  years 
in  domestication  the  races  of  fowls  in  different  parts  of  the  world 
were  quite  different  in  size  and  form,  but  alike  in  being  of 
many  colors. 

From  a  species  in  this  condition  modern  poultry  b'reeders 
have  made  hundreds  of  distinct  varieties.  The  easiest  method 
of  making  a  variety  in  domestication  is  to  select  specimens  for 
breeding  as  near  the  desired  type  as  possible,  and  to  breed  only 
from  a  few  individuals  in  each  generation  which  come  nearest 
to  the  ideal  type.  In  this  way  a  variety  that  breeds  quite  true  to 
the  type  may  be  established  in  from  three  or  four  to  eight  or 


28  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

ten  years,  according  to  the  number  of  characters  to  be  estab- 
lished as  distinctive  of  the  variety.  Varieties  are  also  made  by 
crossing  unlike  individuals.  This  process  is  longer  than  the 
other,  and  sometimes  requires  a  series  of  crosses  to  produce 
specimens  approximating  the  ideal  sought.  After  such  speci- 
mens have  been  obtained  the  method  is  the  same  as  in  the  first 
case.  A  variety  is  commonly  considered  to  be  well  established 
when  the  greater  part  of  the  specimens  produced  are  easily 
identified  as  of  that  variety.  But  no  domestic  variety  is  ever 
established  in  the  sense  that  a  species  is.  All  are  artificial,  pro- 
duced by  compulsory  separation  and  preserved  only  as  long  as 
it  is  continued. 

Classification  of  domestic  varieties  of  birds.  Domestic  varie- 
ties of  all  kinds  of  live  stock  were  at  first  mostly  shape-varieties ; 
that  is,  the  individuals  of  a  variety  were  alike  in  shape  but  of 
various  colors.  This  is  the  case  still  with  some  varieties.  These 
shape-varieties  are  mostly  the  common  types  of  certain  countries 
or  districts.  Thus  the  Leghorn  fowl  is  the  common  fowl  of 
Italy,  and  the  Houdan  is  a  type  common  in  a  small  district  in 
France.  Such  shape-varieties  are  called  breeds.  When  other 
types  were  made  by  crossing  such  breeds  they  also  were  called 
breeds. 

When  people  first  began  to  be  interested  in  the  improvement 
of  live  stock,  the  popular  idea  of  a  breed  was  that  it  was  a  dom- 
estic species,  and  there  are  still  many  people  who  hold  this  view. 
This  popular  misconception  of  the  nature  of  a  breed  is  respon- 
sible for  much  of  the  inconsistency  and  confusion  in  the  ordinary 
classifications  of  domestic  varieties.  To  it  also  is  due  the  use  of 
the  term  "  variety  "  to  apply  especially  to  color- varieties,  which 
are  the  principal  divisions  of  breeds. 

In  the  classification  of  domestic  birds  a  variety  is  properly  a 
color- variety  of  a  breed.  Thus  in  the  Plymouth  Rock  breed  there 
are  six  color-varieties  —  barred,  white,  buff,  partridge,  silver  pen- 
ciled, and  ermine  (called  Columbian) ;  and  in  Fantail  Pigeons 


SPECIES   IN  DOMESTIC   BIRDS  29 

there  are  six  color-varieties — white,  blue,  black,  red,  yellow,  and 
silver.  Birds  of  the  same  breed  (shape)  and  the  same  variety 
(color)  may  differ  in  some  other  character,  as  the  form  of  the 
comb  or  the  presence  or  absence  of  feathers  in  certain  places. 
In  accordance  with  such  differences  varieties  are  divided  into 
subvarieties.  Thus,  in  Leghorn  Fowls  the  brown,  white,  and  buff 
varieties  have  single-combed  and  rose-combed  subvarieties. 

In  any  breed,  variety,  or  subvariety  certain  families  are  some- 
times distinguished  for  general  or  special  excellence  of  form  or 
color.  Such  a  family  is  called  a  strain. 

Systematic  mixtures  of  breeds  and  varieties.  Although  so 
many  distinct  varieties  have  been  developed  from  common  do- 
mestic stocks,  the  improved  races  do  not  always  displace  the 
mongrels.  When  the  old  mongrels  disappear  their  place  is  often 
taken  by  a  new  mongrel  stock  produced  by  mixtures  of  the  dis- 
tinct breeds  with  each  other  and  with  the  old  mongrel  race.  The 
greater  part  of  such  stock  is  so  mixed  that  its  relation  to  any  es- 
tablished breed  could  not  be  determined  or  expressed,  but  sys- 
tematic mixtures  are  sometimes  made,  and  to  describe  these  the 
following  terms  are  used  :  Crossbred —  having  parents  of  differ- 
ent, distinct  breeds,  varieties,  or  subvarieties.  A  Leghorn  male 
mated  with  a  Cochin  female  produces  offspring  each  of  which 
is  in  blood  one  half  Leghorn  and  one  half  Cochin.  Grade  — 
having  more  than  half  of  the  blood  of  a  breed. 

If  the  offspring  of  a  cross  such  as  is  described  in  the  preced- 
ing paragraph  are  mated  with  birds  of  one  of  the  parent  breeds, 
the  offspring  of  this  mating  will  have  three  fourths  of  the  blood 
of  that  breed.  If  these  in  turn  are  mated  to  birds  of  the  same 
pure  breed,  the  offspring  will  have  seven  eighths  of  the  blood  of 
that  breed.  Animals  bred  in  this  way  are  called  grades  until  the 
process  has  been  carried  so  far  that  they  are  practically  pure-bred. 
Mongrel  stock  is  often  graded  up  in  this  way.  As  a  rule  stock 
that  is  seven  eighths  pure  is  not  distinguishable  from  average 
pure  stock  of  the  same  breed. 


30  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

Pure-bred,  thoroughbred,  and  standard-bred.  A  pure-bred 
animal  is,  strictly  speaking,  one  having  the  blood  only  of  the 
variety  to  which  it  belongs.  From  what  has  been  said  of  the 
making  of  breeds  and  varieties  it  is  plain  that  absolute  purity  of 
blood  is  not  a  universal  attribute  of  well-bred  domestic  birds. 
A  thoroughbred  animal  is  one  that  is  thoroughly  bred  for  some 
purpose  or  to  some  type.  A  standard-bred  animal  is  one  that 
is  bred  especially  to  conform  to  requirements  agreed  upon  by 
breeders  and  exhibitors. 

A  great  deal  of  misapprehension  and  confusion  in  the  use  of 
these  terms  has  been  caused  by  the  attitude  of  those  who  main- 
tain that  the  term  "  thoroughbred,"  having  been  used  as  a  name 
for  highly  bred  running  horses,  cannot  properly  apply  to  any 
other  kind  of  live  stock,  and  that  "pure-bred"  should  apply  to  all 
thoroughly  bred  races.  The  noun  "Thoroughbred"  is  the  name 
of  a  breed  of  horses.  The  adjective  "thoroughbred"  is  com- 
mon property.  Writers  on  aviculture  who  wish  to  be  accurate 
prefer  it  in  many  instances  to  "  pure-bred  "  because  absolute 
purity  of  blood  is  rare  and  is  not  of  the  importance  in  breeding 
that  novices  usually  suppose.  Not  only  are  many  new  varieties 
made  by  crossing,  but  in  long-established  breeds  out-crosses  are 
regularly  made  to  restore  or  intensify  characters. 

To  illustrate  the  use  of  the  three  terms  in  application  to  a 
single  breed :  A  stock  of  Light  Brahmas  might  be  kept  pure 
for  half  a  century,  yet  at  the  end  of  that  period  might  have 
changed  its  type  entirely.  It  might  be  so  deteriorated  that  it  was 
worth  less  than  common  mongrels  ;  yet  it  is  pure-bred  stock.  An- 
other stock  of  the  same  variety  might  be  bred  for  table  qualities, 
egg-production,  and  the  same  principal  color-characteristics  of 
the  variety,  but  without  attention  to  the  fine  points  of  fancy 
breeding.  Such  a  stock  is  thoroughbred  but  not  standard-bred. 


CHAPTER  IV 


FOWLS 

The  most  useful  of  all  birds  is  the  common  fowl,  seen  on 
almost  every  farm  and  in  the  back  yards  of  many  city  and  village 
homes.  The  fowl  takes 
to  the  conditions  of  do- 
mestic life  better  than 
any  other  land  bird.  It 
is  more  cleanly  in  its 
habits,  more  productive, 
more  intelligent,  and 
more  interesting  than 
the  duck,  which  ranks 
next  in  usefulness. 
Fowls  supply  nearly  all 
the  eggs  and  the 
greater  part  of  the 
poultry  meat  that  we 
use.  Their  feathers  are 
of  less  value  than  those 
of  ducks,  geese,  and 
turkeys.  In  the  days 
when  feather  beds  were 
common  they  were 
made  usually  of  the 
body  feathers  of  fowls. 
Now  the  feathers  of  fowls  are  used  mostly  for  the  cheaper 
grades  of  pillows  and  cushions,  and  in  the  making  of  feather 
boas  and  like  articles.  The  wing  and  tail  feathers  have  been 

31 


FIG.  12.   Pet  fowls  —  White  Wyandottes  and 

Game  Bantams.    (Photograph  from  Dr.  J.  C. 

Paige,  Amherst,  Massachusetts) 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


much  used  for  decorating 
ladies'  hats,  and  since  the 
use  of  small  wild  birds  in 
millinery  decorations  has 
been  prohibited,  the  hackle 
feathers  of  cocks  are  quite 
extensively  used  in  trimming 
hats. 

Description.  Ordinary  fowls 
are  rather  small  land  birds. 
The  males  at  maturity  weigh 
from  four  to  five  pounds  each, 
and  the  females  about  a 
pound  less.  They  are  plump, 
rugged,  and  very  active.  If 
treated  well  they  are  bold, 

and  with  a  little  attention  can  easily  be  made  very  tame.    If 

neglected  and  abused,  they  be- 
come shy  and  wild.    The  most 

striking    peculiarities    of    the 

fowl  are  the  fleshy  comb  and 

wattles    which    ornament    the 

head,  and  the  full  tail  which 

is  usually  carried  well  up  and 

spread    perpendicularly.     The 

head  appendages  vary  much  in 

size  and  form.   They  are  some- 
times   very    small,    but    never 

entirely  wanting.   The  carriage 

of    the    tail    also    varies,    but 


FIG.  13.    Single-combed  Rhode  Island 
Red  male l 


FIG.  14.    Rose-combed  Rhode  Island 
Red  female  1 


except  in  a  few  breeds  bred 
especially  for  low  tails  it  is 
noticeably  high  as  compared  with  that  of  other  poultry.  Fowls 

1  Photograph  from  Lester  Tompkins,  Concord,  Massachusetts. 


FOWLS  33 

are  readily  distinguished  from  other  birds  by  the  voice.  The 
male  crows,  the  female  cackles.  These  are  their  most  common 
calls,  but  there  are  other  notes  —  some  common  to  both  sexes, 
some  peculiar  to  one — which  are  the  same  in  all  races  of  fowls. 
An  abrupt,  harsh  croak  warns  the  flock  that  one  of  their  num- 
ber has  discerned  a  hawk  or  noticed  something  suspicious  in 
the  air.  A  slowly  repeated  cluck  keeps  the  young  brood  advised 
of  the  location  of  their  mother.  If  she  finds  a  choice  morsel  of 
food,  a  rapid  clicking  sound  calls  them  about  her.  When  she 
settles  down  to  brood  them  she  calls  them  with  a  peculiar 
crooning  note.  The  male  also  cackles  when  alarmed,  and  when 
he  finds  food  calls  his  mates  in  the  same  way  that  the  female 
calls  her  young  under  the  same  circumstances.  Other  poultry 
and  sometimes  even  cats  and  dogs  learn  this  call  and  respond 
to  it.  If  the  food  discovered  is  something  that  a  stronger  animal 
wants,  the  bird  making  the  call  may  lose  it  because  of  his  eager- 
ness to  share  the  treasure  with  the  members  of  his  family. 

In  adult  fowls  the  male  and  female  are  readily  distinguished 
by  differences  in  appearance  as  well  as  by  the  voice.  The  comb 
and  wattles  of  the  male  are  larger,  and  after  he  has  completed 
his  growth  are  always  of  the  same  size  and  a  bright  red  in 
color.  In  the  female  the  comb  is  much  smaller  than  that  of 
a  male  of  the  same  family,  and  both  size  and  color  vary  period- 
ically, the  comb  and  wattles  being  larger  and  the  whole  head 
brighter  in  color  when  the  female  is  laying.  The  tail  of  the 
male  is  also  much  larger  than  that  of  the  female  and  has  long 
plumelike  coverts.  The  feathers  of  his  back  and  neck  are  long, 
narrow,  and  flowing,  and  in  many  varieties  are  much  brighter  in 
color  than  the  corresponding  feathers  on  the  female.  The  male 
has  a  short,  sharp  spur  on  the  inside  of  each  leg,  a  little  above 
the  hind  toe.  Occasionally  a  female  has  spurs,  but  they  are  usu- 
ally very  small.  With  so  many  differences  between  male  and 
female  the  sex  of  an  adult  fowl  is  apparent  at  a  glance.  In  the 
young  of  breeds  which  have  large  combs  the  males  begin  to 


34  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

grow  combs  when  quite  small,  and  so  the  sex  may  be  known 
when  they  are  only  a  few  weeks  old.  In  other  breeds  the  sex 
may  not  be  distinguished  with  certainty  until  the  birds  are  several 
months  old,  or,  in  some  cases,  until  they  are  nearly  full-grown. 


FIG.  15.  White  Polish  male  (crowing)  and  female.    (Photograph  from 
Leontine  Lincoln  Jr.,  Fall  River,  Massachusetts) 

The  adult  male  fowl  is  called  a  cock,  and  also,  in  popular 
phrase,  a  rooster.  The  adult  female  fowl  is  called  a  hen.  The 
word  "  hen  "  is  the  feminine  form  of  hana,  the  Anglo-Saxon 
name  for  the  cock.  It  is  likely  that  the  name  "  cock,"  which  it 
is  plain  was  taken  from  the  first  syllable  of  the  crow  of  the  bird, 
was  gradually  substituted  for  hana  because  it  is  shorter.  Hana 
means  "  the  singer."  A  young  fowl  is  called  a  chicken  until  the 


FOWLS  35 

sex  can  be  distinguished.  After  that  poultry  fanciers  call  the 
young  male  a  cockerel  and  the  young  female  a  pullet.  The  word 
"  pullet "  is  also  used  by  others,  but  the  popular  names  for  a 
cockerel  are  crower  and  young  rooster.  The  word  "cockerel," 
as  is  seen  at  a  glance,  is  the  diminutive  of  "  cock."  The  word 
"pullet,"  sometimes  spelled  poulet,  is  a  diminutive  from  the 
French  poule,  "a  hen." 

Origin  of  the  fowl.  Of  the  origin  of  the  fowl  we  have  no 
direct  knowledge.  It  was  fully  domesticated  long  before  the  be- 
ginnings of  history.  There  is  no  true  wild  race  of  fowls  known. 
For  a  long  time  it  was  commonly  held  that  the  Callus  Bankiva, 
found  in  the  jungles  of  India,  was  the  ancestor  of  all  the  races 
of  the  domestic  fowl,  but  this  view  was  not  accepted  by  some  of 
the  most  careful  investigators,  and  the  most  recent  inquiries  into 
the  subject  indicate  that  the  so-called  Callus  Bankiva  is  not  a 
native  wild  species  but  a  feral  race,  that  is,  a  race  developed  in 
the  wild  from  individuals  escaped  from  domestication. 

Appearance  of  the  original  wild  species.  The  likeness  of  the 
fowls  shown  in  ancient  drawings  to  the  ordinary  unimproved 
stock  in  many  parts  of  the  world  to-day  shows  that  —  except  as 
by  special  breeding  men  have  developed  distinct  races  —  fowls 
have  not  changed  since  the  most  remote  times  of  which  records 
exist.  From  the  constancy  of  this  type  through  this  long  period 
it  is  reasonably  inferred  that  no  marked  change  in  the  size  and 
shape  of  the  fowl  had  occurred  in  domestication  in  prehistoric 
times,  and  therefore  that  the  original  wild  fowl  very  closely  re- 
sembled fowls  which  may  be  seen  wherever  the  influence  of 
improved  races  has  not  changed  the  ordinary  type.  The  par- 
ticular point  in  which  the  wild  species  differed  from  a  flock  of 
ordinary  domestic  fowls  was  color.  Domestic  fowls,  unless  care- 
fully bred  for  one  color  type,  are  usually  of  many  colors.  In 
the  wild  species,  as  a  rule,  only  one  color  would  be  found,  and 
that  would  be  brown,  which  is  the  prevailing  color  among  small 
land  birds. 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


Distribution  of  fowls  in  ancient  times.  From  drawings  and 
descriptions  on  ancient  tablets  and  from  figures  on  old  coins  it 
appears  that  the  fowl  was  familiar  to  the  Babylonians  seven 
thousand  years  ago,  and  that  it  was  introduced  into  Egypt  about 
4600  B.C.  Chinese  tradition  gives  1400  B.C.  as  the  approximate 
date  of  the  introduction  of  poultry  into  China  from  the  West.  At 

the  time  of  the  founding 
of  Rome  the  fowl  was 
well  known  throughout 
Northern  Africa,  and  in 
the  Mediterranean  coun- 
tries of  Europe  as  far 
west  as  Italy  and  Sicily. 
It  was  also  known  in 
Japan  at  this  time. 
Whether  it  was  known 
in  India  is  uncertain ; 
if  not,  it  was  brought 
there  soon  after.  It  is 
supposed  that  immedi- 
ately following  their  con- 
quests in  Central  and 
Western  Europe  the 
Romans  introduced  their 
poultry  into  those  re- 
gions. Thus,  at  about 

the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era,  the  fowl  was  known  to  all 
the  civilized  peoples  of  the  Old  World  and  had  been  introduced 
to  the  less  civilized  races  of  Europe. 

Development  of  principal  races  of  fowls.  There  is  no  evidence 
that  any  of  the  ancient  civilized  peoples  made  any  effort  to  im- 
prove the  fowl,  nor  have  any  improved  races  been  produced  in  the 
lands  where  those  civilizations  flourished.  Outside  of  this  area 
many  different  types  were  gradually  developed  to  suit  the  needs 


FIG.  1 6.  Light  Brahma  cockerel 


FOWLS 


37 


or  the  tastes  of  people  in  different  countries  and  localities.  Thus 
in  the  course  of  centuries  were  produced  from  the  same  original 
wild  stock  fowls  as  unlike  as 
the  massive  Brahma,  with 
feathered  legs  and  feet,  and 
the  diminutive  Game  Ban- 
tam ;  the  Leghorn,  with  its 
large  comb,  and  the  Polish, 
with  only  the  rudiments  of  a 
comb  and  in  its  place  a  great 
ball  of  feathers  ;  the  Spanish, 
with  monstrous  development 
of  the  skin  of  the  face,  and 
the  Silky,  with  dark  skin  and 
hairlike  plumage.  Except  in 
a  few  limited  districts  these 
special  types  did  not  displace 

/r  FIG.  17.  Light  Brahma  hen 

the  ordinary  type  for  many 

centuries.  Until  modern  times  they  were  hardly  known  outside 
of  the  districts  or  the  countries  where  they 
originated.  Of  the  details  of  their  origin 
nothing  is  known.  They  were  not  of  the 
highly  specialized  and  finished  types  such 
as  are  bred  by  fanciers  now.  Their  dis- 
tinctive features  had  been  established,  but  in 
comparatively  crude 
form.  The  refining 
and  perfecting  of 
all  these  types  has 
been  the  work  of 

fanciers  in  Holland,  Belgium,  England, 

and  America  in  modern  times.    These 

fanciers  have  also  developed  new  races 

of  more  serviceable  types. 


FIG.  18.  Red  Pile  Game 
Bantam  cock 


FIG.  19.  Red  Pile  Game 
Bantam  hen 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


How  fowls  were  kept  in  old  times.  Less  than  a  century  ago 
it  was  quite  a  common  practice  among  the  cottagers  of  England 
and  Scotland  to  keep  their  fowls  in  their  cottages  at  night. 
Sometimes  a  loft,  to  which  the  birds  had  access  by  a  ladder 

outside,  was  fitted  up 
for  them.  Sometimes 
perches  for  the  fowls 
were  put  in  the  living 
room  of  the  cottage. 
Such  practices  seem  to 
us  wrong  from  a  sanitary 
standpoint,  but  it  is  only 
within  very  recent  times 
that  people  have  given 
careful  attention  to  sani- 
tation, and  in  old  times, 
when  petty  thieving  was 
more  common  than  it  is 
now,  there  was  a  de- 
cided advantage  in  hav- 
ing such  small  domestic 
animals  as  poultry  and 
pigs  where  they  could 
not  be  disturbed  with- 
out the  owner's  knowing 
it.  The  practice  of  keep- 
ing fowls  in  the  owner's 
dwelling  seems  to  have 
been  confined  to  the 

poorer  people,  who  had  no  large  domestic  animals  for  which 
they  must  provide  suitable  outbuildings.  On  large  farms  special 
houses  were  sometimes  provided  for  poultry,  but  they  were 
probably  oftener  housed  with  other  animals,  for  few  people 
thought  it  worth  while  to  give  them  special  attention. 


FIG.  20.  White-Faced  Black  Spanish  cockerel 

(Photograph  from  R.  A.  Rowan,  Los  Angeles, 

California) 


FOWLS 


39 


Throughout  all  times  and  in  all  lands  the  common  domestic 
birds  have  usually  been  the  special  charge  of  the  women  and 
children  of  a  household.  In  some  countries  long-established 
custom  makes  the  poultry  the  personal  property  of  the  wife.  A 
traveler  in  Nubia  about  seventy  years  ago  states  that  there  the 


FIG.  21.    Silver-Spangled  Polish  cock  and  hen.  (Photograph  from 
Leontine  Lincoln  Jr.,  Fall  River,  Massachusetts) 

henhouse,  as  well  as  the  hens,  belonged  to  the  wife,  and  if  a 
man  divorced  his  wife,  as  the  custom  permitted,  she  took  all 
away  with  her. 

The  flocks  of  fowls  were  usually  small  in  old  times.  It  was 
only  in  areas  adjacent  to  large  cities  that  a  surplus  of  poultry  or 
eggs  could  be  disposed  of  profitably,  and  as  the  fowls  were 
almost  always  allowed  the  run  of  the  dooryard,  the  barnyard, 


4o 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


and  the  outbuildings,  the  number  that  could  be  tolerated,  even 
on  a  large  farm,  was  limited.  As  a  rule  the  fowls  were  expected 
to  get  their  living  as  they  could,  but  in  this  they  were  not  so 
much  worse  off  than  other  live  stock,  or  than  their  owners.  But, 
while  this  was  the  ordinary  state  of  the  family  flock  of  fowls, 
there  were  frequent  exceptions.  The  housewife  who  is  thrifty 

always  manages  affairs 
about  the  house  better 
than  the  majority  of  her 
neighbors,  and  in  older 
poultry  literature  there 
are  occasional  state- 
ments of  the  methods 
of  those  who  were  most 
successful  with  their 
fowls,  which  we  may 
well  suppose  were  meth- 
ods that  had  been  used 
for  centuries. 

Modern  conditions  and 
methods.  About  a  hun- 
dred years  ago  people  in 
England  and  America 
began  to  give  more  at- 
tention to  poultry  keep- 
ing, and  to  study  how  to 


FIG.  22.    Black  Langshan  cock.    (Photograph 
from  Urban  Farms,  Buffalo,  New  York) 


make  poultry  (especially  fowls)  more  profitable.  This  interest  in 
poultry  arose  partly  because  of  the  increasing  interest  in  agricul- 
tural matters  and  partly  because  eggs  and  poultry  were  becoming 
more  important  articles  of  food.  Those  who  studied  the  situation 
found  that  there  were  two  ways  of  making  poultry  more  profit- 
able. One  way,  which  was  open  to  all,  was  to  give  the  birds  bet- 
ter care  ;  the  other  was  to  replace  the  ordinary  fowls  with  fowls 
of  an  improved  breed.  So  those  who  were  much  interested 


FOWLS 


began  to  follow  the  practices  of  the  most  successful  poultry 
keepers  that  they  knew,  and  to  introduce  new  breeds,  and 
gradually  great  changes  were  made  in  the  methods  of  produc- 
ing poultry  and  in  the  types  of  fowls  that  were  kept  in  places 
where  the  interest  in  poultry  was  marked. 

Nearly  all  farmers  now  keep  quite  large  flocks  of  fowls. 
Many  farmers  make  the  most  of  their  living  from  poultry,  and 
in  some  places  nearly  every  farm  is  devoted  primarily  to  the 
production  of  eggs  and  of 
poultry  for  the  table.  Fowls 
receive  most  attention,  al- 
though, as  we  shall  see,  some 
of  the  largest  and  most  profit- 
able farms  are  engaged  in 
producing  ducks.  In  the 
suburbs  of  cities  and  in  vil- 
lages all  over  the  land  many 
people  keep  more  fowls  now 
than  the  average  farmer  did 
in  old  times.  These  city  poul- 
try keepers  often  give  a  great 
deal  of  time  to  their  fowls 
and  still  either  lose  money 


FIG.  23.  Black  Langshan  hen.   (Photo- 
graph   from    Urban    Farms,    Buffalo, 
New  York) 


on  them  or  make  very  small 

wages  for  the  time  given  to 

this  work,  because  they  try  to  keep  too  many  in  a  small  space, 

or  to  keep  more  than  they  have  time  to  care  for  properly. 

The  breeding  of  fancy  fowls  is  also  an  important  pursuit. 
Those  who  engage  in  this  line  on  a  large  scale  locate  on  farms, 
but  many  of  the  smaller  breeders  live  in  towns,  and  the  greater 
number  of  the  amateur  fanciers  who  breed  fine  fowls  for  pleasure 
are  city  people. 

On  large  poultry  farms  the  work  is  usually  done  by  men. 
There  are  many  small  plants  operated  by  women.  The  ordinary 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


farm  and  family  flocks  are  cared  for  by  women  and  children 
much  oftener  than  by  men,  because,  even  when  the  men  are 
interested  in  poultry,  other  work  takes  the  farmer  away  from  the 
vicinity  of  the  house,  and  the  city  man  away  from  home,  so 
much  that  they  cannot  look  after  poultry  as  closely  as  is  neces- 
sary to  get  the  best  results.  Many  women  like  to  have  the  care 
of  a  small  flock  of  fowls,  because  it  takes  them  outdoors  for  a 

few  minutes  at  inter- 
vals every  day,  and  the 
eggs  and  poultry  sold 
may  bring  in  a  con- 
siderable amount  of 
pin  money.  Many 
boys,  while  attending 
the  grammar  and  high 
schools,  earn  money 
by  keeping  a  flock 
of  fowls.  Some  have 
saved  enough  in  this 
way  to  pay  expenses  at 
college  for  a  year  or 
more,  or  to  give  them 
a  start  in  a  small  busi- 
ness. When  there  are 


FIG.  24.    Pit  Game  cock.    (Photograph  from 
W.  F.  Liedtke,  Meriden,  Connecticut) 


both  boys  and  girls  in  a  family,  such  outdoor  work  usually  falls 
to  the  lot  of  a  boy.  A  girl  can  do  just  as  well  if  she  has  the 
opportunity  and  takes  an  interest  in  the  work. 

Native  fowls  in  America.  To  appreciate  the  influence  of 
improved  races  of  fowls  from  various  parts  of  the  Old  World 
upon  the  development  of  poultry  culture  in  America,  we  must 
know  what  the  fowls  in  this  country  were  like  when  poultry 
keepers  here  began  to  see  the  advantages  of  keeping  better 
stock,  and  must  learn  something  of  the  history  of  the  improved 
races  in  the  countries  from  which  they  came. 


FOWLS 


43 


FIG.  25.  Dominique  cockerel.  (Photograph from 
W.  H.  Davenport,  Coleraine,  Massachusetts) 


When  we  speak  of 
native  fowls  in  America 
we  mean  fowls  derived 
from  the  stocks  brought 
here  by  the  early  settlers. 
The  fowl  was  not  known 
in  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere until  it  was 
brought  here  by  Euro- 
peans. Britain,  France, 
Spain,  Holland,  and 
Sweden  all  sent  colonists 
to  America,  and  from 
each  of  these  countries 
came,  no  doubt,  some 
of  the  ordinary  fowls  of 
that  country.  Perhaps 


improved  varieties  came  from  some  of  these  lands  in  early 
colonial  times,  but  the  only 
breeds  that  retained  their  iden- 
tity sufficiently  to  have  distinc- 
tive names  were  the  Game 
Fowls,  which  came  mostly  from 
England,  and  the  Dominiques 
(bluish-gray  barred  fowls  which 
probably  came  from  Holland  or 
from  the  north  of  France,  where 
fowls  of  this  type  were  common). 
The  Game  Fowls,  being  prized 
for  the  sport  of  cockfighting, 
were  often  bred  with  great  care, 
but  the  Dominique  fowls  (also 
called  cuckoo  fowls  and  hawk-colored  fowls)  were  mixed  with 
other  stock,  and  the  name  was  commonly  given  to  any  fowl  of 


FIG.   26.    Dominique  hen.     (Photo- 
graph from  Skerritt  and  Son,  Utica, 
New  York) 


44 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


FIG.  27.  Silver-Gray  Dorking  cock 


that  color,  until  after  the 
improvement  of  fowls 
began.  Then  some  peo- 
ple collected  flocks  of 
fowls  of  this  color  and 
bred  them  for  uniform- 

SHP^  kj4        *ty  *n  otner  characters. 

IK  Well-bred  fowls,  how- 
ever, were  compara- 
tively rare.  Most  of  the 
stock  all  through  the 
country  was  of  the  little 
mongrel  type  until  about 
the  middle  of  the  last 
century.  Then  that  type 
began  to  disappear  from 
New  England,  New 

York,  New  Jersey,  and  eastern  Pennsylvania.  It  remained 
longer  in  the  Northern  states  west  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains 
and  a  generation  ago 
was  still  the  most  com- 
mon type  in  the  upper 
Mississippi  Valley.  It 
is  now  unknown  outside 
of  the  Southern  states, 
and  within  ten  or  twenty 
years  it  will  disappear 
entirely. 

Old  European  races 
of  fowls.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  the  Leghorn, 
most  of  the  distinct  Fic"  28>  Silver-Gray  Dorking  hen 

breeds  of  European  origin  were  brought  from  England,  and  the 
types  introduced  were  not  the  types  as  developed  in  the  places 


FOWLS 


45 


where  the  breeds  (other 
than  English  breeds) 
originated,  but  those 
types  as  modified  by 
English  fanciers.  In 
America,  again,  most  of 

these  breeds  have  been 

slightly  changed  to  con-, 
form  to  the  ideas  of 
American  fanciers.  So, 
while  the  breed  charac- 
ters are  still  the  same  as 
in  the  original  stocks, 
the  pupil  looking  at 
birds  of  these  breeds  to- 
day must  not  suppose 
that  it  was  just  such 

birds  that  came  to  this  country  from  seventy  to  a  hundred  years 

ago,  or  that,  if  he  went  to  the  countries  where  those  races 

originated,    he    would    find 

birds  just  like  those  he  had 

seen  at  home.   Except  in  the 

case  of  the  distinctly  English 

breeds,  such  as  the  Dorking 

and    the     Cornish     Indian 

Game,    which   are   bred    to 

greater  perfection   in   their 

native  land  than  elsewhere, 

he  would  find  most  of  the 

European  races  not  so  highly 

developed  in  the  countries 

where  they  originated  as  in 


FIG.  29.  Single-Comb  Brown  Leghorn  cockerel 

(Photograph  from  Grove  Hill  Poultry  Yards, 

Waltham,  Massachusetts) 


England  and  America,  where 
fanciers  are  more  numerous. 


FIG.  30.    Rose-Comb  Buff  Leghorn  hen 

(Photograph  from  H.  J.  Fisk,  Falconer, 

New  York) 


46 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


FIG.  31.   Silver-Spangled  Hamburg  cock l 


Italian  fowls.    Strictly  speaking,  the  Italian  fowls  in  Italy  are 

not  an  improved  race.  The  fowl  which  is  known  in  this  country 

as  the  Leghorn  fowl  (because 
the  first  specimens  brought 
here  came  from  the  port  of 
Leghorn)  is  the  common 
fowl  of  Italy  and  has  changed 
very  little  since  it  was  in- 
troduced into  that  country 
thousands  of  years  ago.  It 
is  found  there  in  all  colors, 
and  mostly  with  a  single 
comb.  The  Italian  type  is 
of  particular  interest,  not 
only  because  of  its  influence 
in  modern  times,  but  be- 
cause from  it  were  probably 

derived  most  of  the  other  European  races.    Italian  fowls  were 

first  brought  to  this  country 

about  1835,  but  did  not  at- 
tract popular  attention  until 

twenty-five   or   thirty   years 

later. 

English   races   of  fowls. 

It    is   supposed    that  fowls 

were  introduced  into  Britain 

from  Italy  shortly  after  the 

Roman  conquest.   The  type 

was  probably  very  like  that 

Of   ordinary    Leghorn    fowls      FJG  32    Silver-Spangled  Hamburg  hen  1 

of  our  own  time,  but  with 

smaller  combs.     From  such  stock  the  English  developed  two 

very  different  races,  the  Pit  Game  and  the  Dorking.   Game  fowls 

1  Photograph  from  Dr.  J.  S.  Wolfe,  Bloomfield,  New  Jersey. 


FOWLS 


47 


FIG.  33.  White-Crested  Black  Polish  cock1 


were  bred  in  all  parts 
of  the  kingdom,  but  the 
Dorkings  were  a  local 
breed  developed  by  the 
people  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  town  of  Dorking, 
where  from  very  early 
times  the  growing  of 
poultry  for  the  London 
market  was  an  important 
local  industry.  Each  in 
its  way,  these  two  breeds 
represent  the  highest 
skill  in  breeding.  In  the 
Old  English  Game  Fowl, 
symmetry,  strength,  en- 
durance, and  courage  were  combined  to  perfection.  The  Dorking 
is  the  finest  type  of  table  fowl 
that  has  ever  been  produced. 

German  and  Dutch  races. 
The  breeds  now  known  as  Ham- 
burgs  and  Polish  are  of  peculiar 
interest  to  a  student  of  the  evo- 
lution of  races  of  fowls,  because 
they  present  some  characters 
not  readily  derived  from  the 
primitive  type  of  the  fowl.  The 
feather  markings  of  some  vari- 
eties of  both  these  breeds  are 
unlike  those  of  other  races,  and 
are  markings  which  would  not 

be  likely  to  become  established  unless  the  fowls  were  bred  sys- 
tematically for  that  purpose.   So,  too,  with  the  large  crest  of  the 

1  Photograph  from  Charles  L.  Seely,  Afton,  New  York. 


FIG.  34.  White-Crested  Black 
Polish  hen  i 


48 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


FIG.  35.   Houdan  cock.    (Photograph  from  the 
Houdan  Yards,  Sewickley,  Pennsylvania) 


Polish  fowl :  to  carry 
it  the  structure  of  the 
head  must  be  changed. 
Such  changes  require 
systematic  breeding  for 
a  long  period.  Dutch 
and  German  artists  of 
the  sixteenth  century 
painted  many  farmyard 
scenes  showing  fowls 
of  both  these  types, 
frequently  in  flocks 
with  common  fowls 
and  with  some  that 
appear  to  be  a  mixture. 
To  any  one  versed  in 
the  breeding  of  poultry  this  indicates  that  these  peculiar  types 
had  been  made  by  very 
skillful  breeders  long 
before.  The  most  rea- 
sonable supposition  is 
that  these  breeders  were 
monks  in  the  monas- 
teries of  Central  Europe. 
Throughout  the  Middle 
Ages  the  monks  of 
Europe,  more  than  any 
other  class  of  men, 
worked  for  improve- 
ment in  agriculture  as  FIG.  36.  White  Minorca  hen.  (Photo- 
well  as  for  the  advance-  SraPh  from  Tioga  Poultry  Farm,  Apala- 

chin,  New  York) 

ment  of  learning. 

French  races.    The  Houdan  is  the  only  French  breed  well 
known  in  America.     It  is  of  the  Polish  type,  but  heavier,  and 


FOWLS 


49 


the  plumage  is  mottled  irregularly,  not  distinctly  marked  as  in 
the  party-colored  varieties  of  Polish.  The  breed  takes  its  name 
from  the  town  of  Houdan,  the  center  of  a  district  in  which  this 
is  the  common  type  of  fowl. 

Spanish  races.  The  fowls  of  Spanish  origin  well  known  out- 
side of  Spain  are  the  White-faced  Black  Spanish,  the  Black 
Minorca,  and  the  Blue  Andalusian.  The  fowls  of  Spain  at 
the  present  time  are 
mostly  of  the  Italian 
type,  with  black  (or 
in  some  districts 
blue)  the  predom- 
inant color.  The 
Black  Spanish  seems 
to  have  been  known 
in  Holland  and  Eng- 
land for  two  hun- 
dred years  or  more. 
In  Spain  the  white 
face  is  but  mod- 
erately developed. 
The  monstrous  ex- 
aggeration of  this 
character  began  in 
Holland  and  was 
carried  to  the  extreme  by  British  fanciers  who  admired  it. 

The  Black  Minorca  is  supposed  to  have  been  brought  to  Eng- 
land direct  from  Spain  about  a  century  ago.  There  it  was  bred  to 
much  greater  size,  with  the  comb  often  so  large  that  it  was  a  bur- 
den to  the  fowl.  Blue  Andalusians,  at  first  called  Blue  Spanish 
and  Blue  Minorcas,  were  first  known  in  England  about  1850. 

Asiatic  races  of  fowls.  The  evolution  of  races  of  fowls  in  the 
Orient  gave  some  general  results  strikingly  different  from  those 
in  Europe.  As  far  as  is  known,  after  the  introduction  of  fowls 


FIG.  37.    Black  Minorca  cock.    (Photograph  from 
Arthur  Trethaway,  Wilkes-Barre,  Pennsylvania) 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


FIG.  38.  Buff  Cochin  hen1 

of  Europe.  Some  of  these  fowls 
the  visitors  had  seen. 
The  Aseel  of  India  was 
a  small  but  very  strong, 
stocky  type  of  Game. 
Among  the  Malayans 
the  common  fowl  was 
a  large,  coarse  type  of 
Game.  The  hens  of 
these  breeds  laid  eggs 
of  a  reddish-brown  color, 
while  hens  of  all  the 
races  of  Europe  laid 
white  eggs.  Birds  of 
both  these  types  were 
taken  to  England  early 
in  the  last  century,  and 
perhaps  in  small  num- 
bers before  that  time. 


into  China  and  India  some 
thousand  years  ago  the  stock 
which  went  to  those  countries 
and  that  which  descended 
from  it  was  completely  iso- 
lated from  the  fowls  of 
Western  Asia,  Africa,  and 
Europe  until  the  eighteenth 
century.  When  commerce 
between  Europe,  India,  and 
the  East  Indies  began,  the 
Europeans  found  in  these 
countries  fowls  of  a  much 
more  rugged  type  than  those 
were  much  larger  than  any  that 


FIG.  39.  Buff  Cochin  cock1 


Photograph  from  Tienken  and  Case,  Rochester,  Michigan. 


FOWLS 


FIG.  40.  Dark  Brahma  hen 

that  until  the  middle  of  the 
the  birds  were  brought 
in  small  numbers  for 
friends  of  sailors  or  for 
persons  particularly  in- 
terested in  poultry,  and 
at  that  time  there  was 
no  means  of  communi- 
cation between  fanciers 
in  different  localities. 

Japanese  races.  Al- 
though the  Japanese 
races  of  fowls  had  no 
particular  influence  on 
the  development  of  poul- 
try culture  in  America, 
they  are  of  great  inter- 
est in  a  study  of  poul- 
try types,  because,  when 


Chinese  races.  In  China  a 
type  of  fowl  in  some  ways  much 
like  the  Malay,  in  others  quite 
different,  had  been  developed 
as  the  common  stock  of  the 
country.  They  were  about  as 
tall  as  the  Malays,  much  heav- 
ier, and  very  quiet  and  docile. 
They  were  of  various  colors, 
had  feathers  on  the  shanks 
and  feet,  and  laid  brown  eggs. 
Some  of  these  fowls  were 
brought  to  America  in  sailing 
vessels  very  early  in  the  last 
century  and  occasionally  after 
century,  but  attracted  no  attention,  for 


FIG.  41.  Dark  Brahma  cockerel 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


intercourse  between  Japan  and  Western  nations  began,  it  was 
found  that  the  ordinary  fowls  of  Japan  were  much  like  the 
ordinary  fowls  of  Europe  and  America,  and  not,  as  would  be 
expected,  like  the  fowls  of  China.  This  indicated  that  there 
had  been  no  exchange  of  fowls  between  China  and  Japan  after 
the  type  in  China  became  changed.  It  also  affords  strong  evi- 
dence that  the  fowls  of  India  and  China,  although  so  changed, 

were  originally  like 
the  European  and 
Japanese  common 
fowls.  The  special 
races  developed  in 
Japan  were  Game 
Fowls,  more  like 
the  European  than 
the  Malay  type ; 
a  long-tailed  fowl, 
very  much  like  the 
Leghorn  in  other 
respects;  and  the 
very  short-legged 
Japanese  Bantam. 
The  "hen-fever" 
period.  We  are  all 
familiar  with  the 
phrase  "the  hen  fever"  and  with  its  application  to  persons 
intensely  interested  in  poultry,  but  few  know  how  it  originated. 
The  interest  in  better  poultry  that  had  been  slowly  growing  in 
the  Eastern  states  culminated  in  1849  in  an  exhibition  in  the 
Public  Garden  in  Boston,  to  which  fanciers  from  eastern  Massa- 
chusetts, Rhode  Island,  and  eastern  Connecticut  brought  their 
choicest  and  rarest  specimens.  This  was  the  first  poultry  show 
held  in  America.  Nearly  fifteen  hundred  birds  were  exhibited, 
and  the  exhibitors  numbered  over  two  hundred.  There  were 


FIG.  42.     Long-Tailed  Japanese    Phoenix   cockerel 
(Photograph  from  Urban  Farms,  Buffalo,  New  York) 


FOWLS  53 

a  few  birds  of  other  kinds,  but  fowls  made  by  far  the  greater 
part  of  the  show.  All  the  principal  races  of  Europe  and  Asia 
were  represented.  Most  of  the  exhibitors  lived  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  Boston.  About  ten  thousand  people  attended  this 
exhibition. 

Such  an  event  created  a  great  sensation.  Newspaper  reports 
of  it  reached  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  Chinese  fowls,  so 
large  when  compared  with  others,  were  most  noticed.  At  once 
a  great  demand  for  these  fowls  and  for  their  eggs  arose,  and 
prices  for  fancy  poultry,  which  previously  had  been  but  little 
higher  than  prices  for  common  poultry,  rose  so  high  that  those 
who  paid  such  prices  for  fowls  were  commonly  regarded  as 
monomaniacs.  While  the  interest  was  not  as  great  in  other 
kinds  of  fowls  as  in  the  Shanghais,  Cochin  Chinas,  and  "  Brah- 
maputras,"  as  they  were  then  called,  all  shared  in  the  boom, 
and  within  a  few  years  there  was  hardly  a  community  in  the 
northeastern  part  of  the  United  States  where  there  was  not 
some  one  keeping  highly  bred  fowls.  When  the  interest  became 
general,  the  famous  showman,  P.  T.  Barnum,  promoted  a  show 
of  poultry  in  the  American  Museum  in  New  York  City.  Many 
celebrated  men  became  interested  in  fine  poultry.  Daniel  Web- 
ster had  been  one  of  the  exhibitors  at  the  first  show  in  1849. 
The  noted  temperance  lecturer,  John  B.  Gough,  was  a  very 
enthusiastic  fancier. 

After  a  few  years  the  excitement  began  to  subside,  and  most 
people  supposed  that  it  was  about  to  die,  never  to  revive.  A 
Mr.  Burnham,  who  had  been  one  of  the  most  energetic  pro- 
moters of  Asiatic  fowls,  and  had  made  a  small  fortune  while  the 
boom  lasted,  had  so  little  confidence  in  the  permanence  of  the 
poultry  fancy  that  he  published  a  book  called  "  The  History  of 
the  Hen  Fever,"  which  presented  the  whole  movement  as  a 
humbug  skillfully  engineered  by  himself.  This  book  was  very 
widely  read,  and  the  phrase  "the  hen  fever,"  applying  to 
enthusiastic  amateur  poultry  keepers,  came  into  common  use. 


54 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


Subsequent  developments  showed  that  those  who  had  sup- 
posed that  the  interest  in  fine  poultry  was  only  a  passing  fad 
were  wrong.  The  true  reason  for  its  decline  at  that  time  was 
that  the  nation  was  approaching  a  crisis  in  its  history  and  a 
civil  war.  When  the  war  was  over,  the  interest  in  poultry  revived 
at  once,  and  has  steadily  increased  ever  since.  The  prices  for 
fine  specimens,  which  were  considered  absurd  in  the  days  of  the 

hen  fever,  are  now  ordi- 
nary prices  for  stock  of 
high  quality. 

How  the  American 
breeds  arose.  It  is  natural 
to  suppose  that  with  such 
a  variety  of  types  of  fowls, 
from  so  many  lands,  there 
was  no  occasion  for  Amer- 
icans to  make  any  new 
breeds.  If,  however,  you 
look  critically  at  the  for- 
eign breeds,  you  may 
notice  that  not  one  of 
them  had  been  developed 
with  reference  to  the  sim- 
FIG.  43.  Barred  Plymouth  Rock  cock.  (Pho-  pie  requirements  of  the 

tograph  from  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  ordinary  farmer  and  poul- 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

try  keeper.     It  was  the 

increasing  demand  for  eggs  and  poultry  for  market  that  had 
given  the  first  impulse  to  the  interest  in  special  breeds.  The 
first  claim  made  for  each  of  these  was  that  it  was  a  better  layer 
than  the  ordinary  fowl.  In  general,  these  claims  were  true,  but 
farmers  and  others  who  were  interested  primarily  in  producing 
eggs  and  poultry  for  the  table  were  rather  indifferent  to  the 
foreign  breeds,  because,  among  them  all,  there  was  not  one  as 
well  adapted  to  the  ordinary  American  poultry  keeper's  needs 


FOWLS 


55 


as  the  old  Dominique  or  as  the  occasional  flocks  of  the  old 
native  stock  that  had  been  bred  with  some  attention  to  size 
and  to  uniformity  in  other  characters. 

To  every  foreign  breed  these  practical  poultry  keepers  found 
some  objection.  The  Dorking  was  too  delicate,  and  its  five-toed 
feet  made  it  clumsy.  The  Hamburgs,  too,  were  delicate,  and  the 
most  skillful  breeding  was  required  to  preserve  their  beautiful 
color  markings.  The  superfluous  feathers  on  the  heads  of 
the  crested  breeds  and  on  the  feet  of  the  Asiatics  were  equally 
objectionable.  All  the  Euro- 
pean races  except  the  Leghorns 
had  white  skin  and  flesh-colored 
or  slate-colored  feet,  while  in 
America  there  was  a  very  de- 
cided popular  preference  for 
fowls  with  yellow  skin  and  legs. 
The  Leghorns  and  the  Asiatics 
met  this  requirement,  but  the 
former  were  too  small  and  their 
combs  were  unnecessarily  large, 
while  the  latter  were  larger  fowls 
than  were  desired  for  general 
use,  and  their  foot  feathering 
was  a  handicap  in  barnyards 


FIG.  44.   Barred  Plymouth  Rock  hen 

(Photograph  from  Bureau  of  Animal 

Industry,  United  States  Department 

of  Agriculture) 


and  on  heavy,  wet  soils. 

So,  while  fanciers  and  those 
who  were  willing  to  give  their  poultry  special  attention,  or  who 
kept  fowls  for  some  special  purpose  which  one  of  the  foreign 
breeds  suited,  took  these  breeds  up  eagerly,  farmers  and  other 
poultry  keepers  usually  became  interested  in  them  only  to  the 
extent  of  using  male  birds  of  different  breeds  to  cross  with 
flocks  of  native  and  grade  hens.  In  consequence  of  this  promis- 
cuous crossing,  the  stock  in  the  country  rapidly  changed,  a  new 
type  of  mongrel  replacing  the  old  native  stock. 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


While  the  masses  of  poultry  keepers  were  thus  crossing  new 
and  old  stock  at  random,  many  breeders  were  trying  systemati- 
cally to  produce  a  new  breed  that  would  meet  all  the  popular 
requirements.  Even  before  the  days  of  the  hen  fever  two  local 
breeds  had  arisen,  probably  by  accident.  These  were  the  Jersey 
Blue  and  the  Bucks  County  Fowl,  both  of  which  continued 
down  to  our  own  time  but  never  became  popular.  At  the  first 

exhibition  in  Boston  a  class  had 
been  provided  for  crossbred 
fowls,  and  in  this  was  shown  a 
new  variety  called  the  Plymouth 
Rock.  From  the  descriptions  of 
these  birds  now  in  existence 
it  appears  that  they  looked 
much  like  the  modern  Partridge 
Plymouth  Rock.  Those  who 
brought  them  out  hoped  that 
they  would  meet  the  popular 
demand,  and  for  a  short  time 
it  seemed  that  this  hope  might 
be  realized,  but  interest  in  them 
soon  waned,  and  in  a  few  years 
they  were  almost  forgotten. 
In  the  light  of  the  history  of  American  breeds  which  did 
afterwards  become  popular  we  can  see  now  that  the  ideas  of  the 
masses  of  American  poultry  keepers  were  not  as  strictly  practi- 
cal as  their  objections  to  the  various  foreign  breeds  appeared  to 
show.  The  three  varieties  that  have  just  been  mentioned,  and 
many  others  arising  from  time  to  time,  met  all  the  expressed  re- 
quirements of  the  practical  poultry  keeper  quite  as  well  as  those 
which  subsequently  caught  his  fancy.  Indeed,  as  will  be  shown 
farther  on,  some  of  the  productions  of  this  period,  after  being 
neglected  for  a  long  time,  finally  became  very  popular.  Usually 
this  happened  when  their  color  became  fashionable. 


FIG.  45.    White  Plymouth  Rock  hen 

(Photograph    from    C.    E.    Hodgkins, 

Northampton,    Massachusetts) 


FOWLS 


57 


The  modern  Barred  Plymouth  Rock.  Shortly  after  our  Civil 
War  two  poultrymen  in  Connecticut  —  one  a  fancier,  the  other  a 
farmer —  engaged  in  a  joint  effort  to  produce  the  business  type  of 
fowl  that  would  meet  the  favor  of  American  farmers.  A  male 
of  the  old  Dominique  type  was  crossed  with  some  Black  Cochin 
hens.  This  mating  produced  some  chickens  having  the  color  of 
the  sire,  but  larger  and  more  robust.  Another  and  more  skillful 
fancier  saw  these 
chickens  and  per- 
suaded the  farmer 
to  sell  him  a  few  of 
the  best.  A  few 
years  later,  when, 
by  careful  breeding 
and  selection,  he 
had  fixed  the  type 
and  had  specimens 
enough  to  supply 
eggs  to  other  fan- 
ciers, he  took  some 
of  his  new  breed  to  a 
show  at  Worcester, 


FIG.  46.  Buff  Plymouth  Rock  cock 


Massachusetts.  Up 
to  this  time  he  had 
not  thought  of  a  name  for  them,  but  as  people  who  saw  them 
would  want  to  know  what  they  were  called,  a  name  was  now 
necessary.  It  occurred  to  this  man  that  the  name  "  Plymouth 
Rock,"  having  once  been  given  to  a  promising  American 
breed,  would  be  appropriate.  So  the  birds  were  exhibited  as 
Plymouth  Rocks. 

This  new  breed  caught  the  popular  fancy  at  once,  for  it  had 
the  color  which  throughout  this  country  was  supposed  always 
to  be  associated  with  exceptional  vigor  and  productiveness,  and 
it  had  greater  size  than  the  Dominique.  The  fame  of  the  new 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


breed  spread  rapidly.  It  was  impossible  to  supply  the  demand 
from  the  original  stock,  and,  as  there  is  usually  more  than  one 
way  of  producing  a  type  by  crossing,  good  imitations  of  the 
original  were  soon  abundant.  Farmers  and  market  poultrymen 
by  thousands  took  up  the  Plymouth  Rock,  while  all  over  the 
land  fanciers  were  trying  to  perfect  the  color  which  their  critical 

taste  found  very  poor. 

Other  varieties  of  the  Plym- 
outh Rock.  The  success  of  the 
Plymouth  Rock  gave  fresh  im- 
petus to  efforts  to  make  new 
breeds  and  varieties  of  the  same 
general  character.  Great  as  was 
its  popularity,  the  new  breed  did 
not  suit  all.  Some  did  not  like 
the  color  ;  some  objected  to  the 
single  comb,  thinking  that  a  rose 
comb  or  a  pea  comb  had  advan- 
tages ;  some  preferred  a  shorter, 
blockier  body;  others  wanted  a 
larger,  longer  body.  The  off- 
colored  birds  which  new  races 
usually  produce  in  considerable  numbers,  even  when  the  greater 
number  come  quite  true,  also  suggested  to  some  who  obtained 
them  new  varieties  of  the  Plymouth  Rock,  while  to  others  it 
seemed  better  policy  to  give  them  new  names  and  exploit  them 
as  new  and  distinct  breeds. 

Both  black  and  white  specimens-came  often  in  the  early  flocks 
of  Barred  Plymouth  Rocks.  The  black  ones  were  developed  as 
a  distinct  breed,  called  the  Black  Java.  The  white  ones,  after 
going  for  a  while  under  various  names,  and  after  strong  oppo- 
sition from  those  who  claimed  that  the  name  " Plymouth  Rock" 
belonged  exclusively  to  birds  of  the  color  with  which  the  name 
had  become  identified,  finally  secured  recognition  as  White 


FIG.  47.    Silver-Penciled  Plymouth 
Rock  hen 


FOWLS 


59 


Plymouth  Rocks.    Almost  immediately  Buff  Plymouth  Rocks 
appeared.     For   reasons  which    will    appear  later,   the  origin 

of  these  will  be  given 
in  another  connection. 
Then  came  in  rapid  suc- 
cession the  Silver-Pen- 
ciled, the  Partridge,  or 
Golden-Penciled  (which, 
as  has  been  said,  is 
probably  quite  a  close 
duplicate  of  the  type  to 

FIG.  48.  Silver-Laced  Wyandotte  pullet.  Photo-     which  the  mme  «  pj 
graphed  in  position  showing  lacing  on  back  .    . 

outh  Rock  was  origi- 
nally given),  and  the  Columbian,  or  Ermine,  Plymouth  Rock. 
These  were  all  of  the  general  type  of  the  Barred  variety,  but 
because  in  most  cases  they 
were  made  by  different 
combinations,  and  because 
fanciers  are  much  more  par- 
ticular to  breed  for  color 
than  to  breed  for  typical 
form,  the  several  varieties 
of  the  Plymouth  Rock  are 
slightly  different  in  form. 

The  Wyandottes.  Closely 
following  the  appearance  of 
the  Barred  Plymouth  Rock 
came  the  Silver-Laced  Wy- 
andotte, called  at  first  sim- 
ply the  Wyandotte.  The 
original  type  was  quite  dif- 
ferent in  color  from  the 

modern  type.  It  had  on  each          FlG  ^  silver- Laced  Wyandotte 
feather  a  small  white  center  cockerel 


6o 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


surrounded  by  a  heavy  black  lacing.  This  has  been  gradually 
changed  until  now  the  white  center  is  large  and  the  black  edging 
narrow.  At  first  some  of  these  Wyandottes  had  rose  combs  and 
some  had  single  combs.  The  rose  comb  was  preferred  and  the 
single-combed  birds  were  discarded  as  culls. 

Strange  as  it  seems  in  the  case  of  an  event  so  recent,  no  one 
knows  where  the  first  Wyandottes  came  from.  It  is  supposed  that 

they  were  one  of  the  many 
varieties  developed  either  by 
chance  or  in  an  effort  to  meet 
the  demand  for  a  general- 
purpose  fowl.  They  appear 
to  have  come  into  the  hands 
of  those  who  first  exploited 
them  in  some  way  that  left 
no  trace  of  their  source. 
They  went  under  several 
different  names  until  1883, 
when  the  name  "  Wyandotte  " 
was  given  them  as  an  appro- 
priate and  euphonious  name 
for  an  American  breed. 

Next  appeared  a  Golden- 
Laced  Wyandotte,  marked 
like  the  Silver-Laced  variety 
but  having  golden  bay  where 
that  had  white.  This  variety 
was  developed  from  an  earlier 
variety  of  unknown  origin,  known  in  Southern  Wisconsin  and 
Northern  Illinois  (about  1870  and  earlier)  under  the  name  of 
"  Winnebago." 

The  Silver- Laced  Wyandottes,  like  the  Barred  Plymouth  Rocks, 
produced  some  black  and  some  white  specimens.  From  these  were 
made  the  Black  Wyandottes  and  the  White  Wyandottes.  Then 


FIG.    50.     White    Wyandotte    cockerel 
(Photograph  from  W.  E.  Mack,  Wood- 
stock, Vermont) 


FOWLS 


61 


came  the  Buff  Wyandottes 
(from  the  same  original 
source  as  the  Buff  Plymouth 
Rocks),  and  after  them  Par- 
tridge Wyandottes,  Silver- 
Penciled  Wyandottes,  and 
Columbian,  or  Ermine,  Wy- 
andottes. From  the  three 
last-named  varieties  came 
the  Plymouth  Rock  varieties 
of  the  corresponding  colors, 
the  first  stocks  of  these  be- 
ing the  single-combed  speci- 
mens from  the  flocks  of 

FIG.  51.  Siver-Penciled  Wyandotte  cock- 
erel. (Photograph  from  James  s.  Wason,     breeders  of  these  varieties 
Grand  Rapids,  Michigan)  of   Wyandottes. 

The  Rhode  Island  Red.  Among  the  earliest  of  the  local  types 
developed  in  America  was  a 
red  fowl  which  soon  became 
the  prevalent  type  in  the  egg- 
farming  section  of  Rhode  Island 
and  quite  popular  in  the  adjacent 
part  of  Massachusetts.  Most  of 
the  stock  of  this  race  was  pro- 
duced by  a  continuous  process 
of  grading  and  crossing  which 
was  systematic  only  in  that  it 
was  the  common  practice  to  pre- 
serve none  but  the  red  males 
after  introducing  a  cross  of  an- 
other color.  A  few  breeders  in 

...         ,        ,      i     -       n      i         FIG.  C2.  Partridge  Wyandotte  pullet 

the    district    bred    their    flocks 

more  carefully  than  others,  but  the  race  as  a  whole  was  not 

really  thoroughbred  until  after  it  became  more  widely  popular. 


62 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


Although  the  formation  of  this  race  began  about  1850  (per- 
haps earlier),  it  was  fifty  years  before  it  became  known  outside 
of  the  limited  area  in  which  it  was  almost  the  only  type  to  be  seen. 
Indeed,  the  first  birds  of  this  race  to  attract  the  attention  of 
the  public  were  exhibited  about  1890  as  Buff  Plymouth  Rocks 
and  Buff  Wyandottes.  At  that  time  very  few  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Reds  were  as  dark  in  color  as  the  average  specimen 

now  seen  in  the  showroom, 
and  buff  specimens  were 
numerous.  Birds  with  rose 
combs,  birds  with  single 
combs,  birds  with  pea  combs, 
and  birds  with  intermediate 
types  of  comb  could  often 
be  found  in  the  same  flock. 
So  it  was  not  a  very  difficult 
matter,  among  many  thou- 
sands of  birds,  to  pick  out 
some  that  would  pass  for 
Buff  Plymouth  Rocks  and 
some  that  would  pass  for 
Buff  Wyandottes.  These 
varieties  were  also  made  in 
other  ways,  mostly  by  vari- 
ous crosses  with  the  Buff  Cochin,  but  for  some  years  breeders 
continued  to  draw  on  the  Rhode  Island  supply. 

Some  people  in  the  Rhode  Island  district  thought  that  a 
breed  which  could  thus  furnish  the  foundation  for  varieties  of 
two  other  breeds  ought  to  win  popularity  on  its  own  merits.  So 
they  began  to  exhibit  and  advertise  Rhode  Island  Reds.  At  first 
they  made  little  progress,  but  as  the  breed  improved,  many 
more  people  became  interested  in  it,  and  soon  it  was  one  of  the 
most  popular  breeds  in  the  country.  The  modern  exhibition 
Rhode  Island  Red  is  of  a  dark  brownish  red  in  color. 


FIG.  53.  Columbian  Wyandottes.   (Photo- 
graph from   R.   G.    Richardson,   Lowell, 
Massachusetts) 


FOWLS  63 

The  American  idea  in  England  ;  the  Orpington.  At  the  time 
that  the  Chinese  fowls  were  attracting  wide  attention  in  America 
and  England  some  were  taken  to  other  countries  of  Europe.  In 
almost  every  country  they  had  some  influence  upon  the  native 
stock,  but  as  each  of  the  old  countries  had  one  or  more  improved 
races  that  suited  most  of  those  giving  special  attention  to  poultry 
culture,  the  influence  of  the  Asiatics  was  less  marked  than  in 
our  country. 

When  the  Plymouth  Rock  and  the  Wyandotte  became  popu- 
lar in  America,  they  were  taken  to  England,  where,  in  spite  of 
the  preference  for  white  skin  and  flesh-colored  legs,  they  were 
soon  in  such  favor  that  a  shrewd  English  breeder  saw  the  ad- 
vantage of  making  another  breed  of  the  same  general  type  but 
with  skin  and  legs  of  the  colors  preferred  in  England.  He 
called  his  new  breed  the  Orpington,  giving  it  the  name  of  the 
town  in  which  he  lived.  The  first  Orpingtons  were  black  and 
were  made  by  crossing  the  black  progeny  of  Plymouth  Rocks 
(which  in  America  had  been  used  to  make  the  Black  Java), 
Black  Minorcas,  and  Black  Langshans.  Then  the  originator  of 
the  Orpingtons  put  out  a  buff  variety,  which  he  claimed  was 
made  by  another  particular  combination  of  crosses,  but  which 
others  said  was  only  an  improvement  of  a  local  breed  known  as 
the  Lincolnshire  Buff.  Later  White  Orpingtons  and  Spangled 
Orpingtons  appeared. 

Present  distribution  of  improved  races.  Having  briefly  traced 
the  distribution  of  the  fowl  in  ancient  times,  and  the  movements 
which  in  modern  times  brought  long-separated  branches  of  the 
species  together,  let  us  look  at  the  present  situation. 

The  Plymouth  Rocks,  .Wyandottes,  Rhode  Island  Reds,  and 
Orpingtons,  which  are  essentially  one  type,  the  differences  be- 
tween them  being  superficial,  constitute  the  greater  part  of  the 
improved  fowls  of  Amercia  and  England  and  are  favorites  with 
progressive  poultry  keepers  in  many  other  lands.  In  many  parts 
of  this  country  one  rarely  sees  a  fowl  that  is  not  of  this  type, 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


either  of  one  of  the  breeds  named  or  a  grade  of  the  same  type. 
After  the  general-purpose  type,  the  laying  type,  which  includes 
the  Italian,  Spanish,  German,  and  Dutch  races,  is  the  most 
popular,  but  in  this  type  popularity  is  limited  in  most  places  to 
the  Leghorns  and  to  a  few  breeds  which,  though  classed  as 
distinct  breeds,  are  essentially  the  same.  The  Ancona  is  really 
a  Leghorn,  and  the  Andalusian,  although  it  comes  from  Spain, 

is,  like  other  races  in 
that  land,  distinctly  of 
the  same  type  as  the 
fowls  of  Italy. 

With  the  growth  of 
a  general-purpose  class, 
interest  in  the  Asiatic 
fowls  rapidly  declined. 
They  are  now  kept  prin- 
cipally by  fanciers  and  by 
market  poultry  growers 
who  produce  extra  large 
fowls  for  the  table. 

Deformed  and  dwarf 
races.  Although  some 
of  the  races  of  fowls 
that  have  been  consid- 
ered have  odd  characters 
which,  when  greatly  ex- 
aggerated, are  detrimental  and  bring  the  race  to  decay,  such 
characters  as  large  combs,  crests,  feathered  legs,  and  the  pecul- 
iar development  of  the  face  in  the  Black  Spanish  fowl,  when 
moderately  developed,  do  not  seriously  affect  the  usefulness  of 
fowls  possessing  them.  With  a  little  extra  care  they  usually 
do  as  well  as  fowls  of  corresponding  plain  types.  Poultry 
keepers  who  admire  such  decorations  and  keep  only  a  few  birds 
do  not  find  the  extra  care  that  they  require  burdensome,  and 


FIG.  54.  Single-Combed  Buff  Orpington  cock 

(Photograph  from  Miss  Henrietta  E.  Hooker, 

South  Iladley,  Massachusetts) 


FOWLS 


consequently  all  these  races  have  become  well  established  and 
at  times  popular.  It  is  notable  that  in  all  fowls  of  this  class 
the  odd  character  is  added  to  the  others  or  is  an  exaggeration 
of  a  regular  character.  There  are  two  other  classes  of  odd  types 
of  fowls.  The  first  of  these  is  made  up  of  a  small  group  of 
varieties  defective  in  one  character ;  the  second  comprises  the 
dwarf  varieties,  most  of  which  are  miniatures  of  larger  varieties. 

Silky  fowls.  In  all  races  of  fowls  individuals  sometimes  ap- 
pear in  which  the  web  of  the  feathers  is  of  a  peculiar  formation, 
resembling  hair.  Such  fowls 
are  called  silkies.  They  are 
occasionally  exhibited  as  curi- 
osities but  are  not  often  bred 
to  reproduce  this  character. 
There  is  one  distinct  race  of 
white  fowls,  so  small  that  it  is 
usually  classed  as  a  bantam, 
having  feathers  of  this  kind. 

Frizzled  fowls.  The  feathers 
of  a  fowl  are  sometimes  curled 
at  the  tips,  like  the  short  curls 
in  the  feathers  which  indicate 
the  sex  of  a  drake.  Such  birds 
are  called  frizzles  or  frizzled 
fowls.  True  frizzles,  like  true 
silkies  from  races  having  nor- 
mal plumage,  are  very  rare.  Many  of  the  fowls  exhibited  at 
poultry  shows  as  Frizzles  are  ordinary  birds  the  feathers  of 
which  have  been  curled  artificially. 

Rumpless  fowls.  The  tail  feathers  of  a  fowl  are  borne  on  a 
fleshy  protuberance  at  the  lower  end  of  the  spine.  It  some- 
times happens  that  one  or  more  of  the  lower  vertebrae  are 
missing.  In  that  case  the  fowl  has  no  tail  and  the  feathers  on 
the  back,  which  in  a  normal  fowl  divide  and  hang  down  at  each 


FIG.   55.     Single-Combed  White  Or- 
pington    hen.        (Photograph     from 
Bureau  of  Animal   Industry,   United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture) 


66 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


side,  fall  smoothly  all  around.  True  rumpless  fowls  are  rare. 
Many  of  the  specimens  exhibited  are  birds  from  which  the 
rump  was  removed  when  they  were  very  young. 

Bantams.  Dwarf,  or  bantam,  fowls,  on  account  of  their  dimin- 
utive size  and  pert  ways,  are  especially  attractive  to  children. 
Breeding  them  to  secure  the  minimum  size,  the  desired  type, 
and  fine  quality  in  plumage  color  has  the  same  fascination  for  a 
fancier  as  the  breeding  of  large  fowls,  and  as  the  small  birds  are 
better  adapted  to  small  spaces,  fanciers  who  have  little  room 

often  devote  themselves  to 
the  breeding  of  bantams. 
The  larger  and  hardier  va- 
rieties of  bantams  are  good 
for  eggs  and  poultry  for 
home  use,  but  are  not  often 
kept  primarily  for  these 
products.  Most  people  who 
keep  bantams  keep  only  a 
few  for  pleasure,  and  the 
eggs  and  poultry  they  fur- 
nish are  but  a  small  part  of 
what  the  family  consumes. 
Bantam  keepers  who  have 
a  surplus  of  such  products 
can  usually  find  customers  in  their  own  neighborhood.  The 
very  small  bantams  and  the  very  rare  varieties  are  usually  deli- 
cate and  so  hard  to  rear  that  amateurs  who  try  them  soon  be- 
come discouraged  and  either  give  up  bantams  or  take  one  of 
the  hardy  kinds.  It  is- better  to  begin  with  one  of  the  popular 
varieties,  which  are  as  interesting  as  any  and,  on  the  whole,  are 
the  most  satisfactory. 

Origin  of  bantams.  After  the  explanation  of  the  origin  of 
varieties  given  in  Chapter  III,  and  the  description  of  the  evo- 
lution of  the  different  races  of  fowls  in  the  present  chapter,  it 


FIG.  56.  White  Cochin  Bantam  cockerel 


FOWLS  67 

is  perhaps  not  really  necessary  to  tell  how  dwarf  races  of  fowls 
originated  ;  but  the  belief  that  such  races  were  unknown  until 
brought  to  Europe  from  the  city  of  Bantam,  in  the  Island 
of  Java,  is  so  widespread  that  it  can  do  no  harm  to  give  the 
facts  which  disprove  this  and  in  doing  so  to  show  again  how 
easily  artificial  varieties  are  made  by  skillful  poultry  fanciers. 


FIG.  57.  Bantams  make  good  pets 

As  has  been  stated,  people  who  do  not  understand  the  close 
relations  of  the  different  races  of  fowls,  and  do  not  know  how 
quickly  new  types  may  be  established  by  careful  breeding,  attach 
a  great  deal  of  importance  to  purity  of  breed.  Hence,  unscrupu- 
lous promoters  of  new  breeds  have  often  claimed  that  they  re- 
ceived their  original  stock  direct  from  some  remote  place  or  from 
some  one  who  had  long  bred  it  pure.  The  idea  of  assigning  the 


68 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


FIG.  58.  Black-Tailed  White  Japanese  Bantams 
(Photograph  from  Frederick  W.  Otte,  Peek- 
skill,  New  York) 


town  of  Bantam  as  the 
home  of  a  true  species 
of  dwarf  domestic  fowl 
seems  to  have  occurred 
to  some  one  in  England 
more  than  a  hundred 
years  ago,  and  to  have 
been  suggested  because 
of  the  resemblance  of 
the  name  of  this  Asiatic 
city  to  the  English  word 
"  banty,"  the  popular 
name  for  a  dwarf  fowl. 
It  seems  strange  that 
such  a  fiction  should  be 
accepted  as  accounting 
for  dwarf  varieties  of  European  races,  but  it  was  published  by 
some  of  the  early  writers,  used  by  lexicog- 
raphers, and,  having  found  a  place  in  the 
dictionaries,  was  accepted  as  authoritative  by 
the  majority  of  later  writers  on  poultry,  even 
after  some  of  the  highest  authorities  had 
shown  conclusively  that  this  view  of  the 
origin  of  dwarf  races 
was  erroneous. 

No  evidence  of  the 
existence   of   a   dwarf 
race  of  fowls  in  Java 
has  ever  been  produced.   The  Chinese  and 
Japanese  bantams  did  not  come  to  Europe 
and  America  until  long  after  the  name 
"bantam"  came  into  use.    Dwarfs  occur 

FIG  60    White  Poli         and  undoubtedly  have  occurred  frequently 
Bantam  cock  in  every  race  of  fowls.    Usually  they  are 


FIG.  59.  White  Polish 
Bantam  hen 


FOWLS 


69 


FIG.   61.    Black  Co- 
chin Bantam  pullet1 


FIG.  62.   Black  Cochin 
Bantam  cockerel1 


unsymmetrical  and  weakly,  and  are  called  runts  and  put  out  of 
the  way  as  soon  as  possible.  But  occasionally  an  undersized 
individual  is  finely  formed,  active,  and  hardy.  By  mating  such 
a  specimen  with  the  smallest  specimen  of  the  other  sex  that 
can  be  found  (even  though  the  latter  is 
much  larger),  and  by 
repeated  selection  of 
the  smallest  speci- 
mens, a  dwarf  race 
may  be  obtained.  It 
could  be  made,  though 
not  so  rapidly,  by  sys- 
tematic selection  of 
the  smallest  ordinary 

specimens  and  by  keeping  the  growing  chicks  so  short  of  food 
that  they  would  be  stunted.  The  latter  process,  however,  is  so 
tedious  that  no  one  is  likely  to  adopt  it.  Usually  the  idea  of 
making  a  new  variety  of  bantams  does  not  occur  to  a  breeder 

until  he  sees  a  good 
dwarf  specimen  of 
a   race   of    which 
there  is  no  dwarf 
variety.     Then,  if 
he   undertakes   to 
make  such  a  vari- 
ety, he  is  likely  to 
use  in  the  process 
both  small   speci- 
mens of  large  races  and  birds  of  long-established  dwarf  races. 
Dwarf  types  of  most  of  the  popular  breeds  have  been  made 
here  and  exhibited,  but  the  originators  were  given  very  little 
encouragement  to  perfect  them. 


FIG.  63.  Rose-Comb  Black 
Bantam  cock 


FIG.  64.   Rose-Comb 
Black  Bantam  hen  2 


1  Photograph  from  Dr.  J.  N.  MacRae,  Gait,  Ontario. 

2  Photograph  from  Grove  Hill  Poultry  Yards,  Waltham,  Massachusetts. 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


Varieties  of  bantams.    The  most  popular  bantams  in  this 
country  to-day  are  the  Cochin  Bantams,  formerly  called  Pekin 
Bantams  because  the  first  that  were  seen 
in  Europe  and  America  had  come  from 
Peking.      Only 
the  self-colored 
varieties — buff, 
black,  and  white 
-  are    natives 
of  China.    The 

Partridge    vari-     FlG-  66-   Silver  Sebright  Ban- 

ety  was  made  in 


FIG.  65.    Silver  Sebright 
Bantam  cockerel 


tarn  pullet 


England,  where  there  are  several  other  color  varieties  not  known 
in  this  country.    The  Common  Game  Bantam  is  a  dwarf  Pit 

Game  fowl ;  the  Exhibition  Game 
Bantam  is  a  dwarf  type  resembling 
the  Exhibition  Game,  developed  from 
the  Common  Game  Bantam.  Rose- 
Comb  Black  and  Rose-Comb  White 
Bantams  are  diminutive  Hamburg 
fowls;  Polish  Bantams  are  diminu- 
tive Polish.  The  Sebright  Bantams 
are  of  the 
same  gen- 
eral type  as 
the  Rose- 
Combs,  but  in  color  they  are  laced 
like  the  large  varieties  of  Polish,  not 
spangled  like  the  party-colored  Ham- 
burgs.  They  are  further  distin- 
guished by  being  "hen-tailed,"  that 
is,  the  males  having  tails  like  hens. 
Sebright  Bantams  were  made  in 


FIG.  67.  Dark  Brahma  Bantam 
cockerel 


FIG.  68.  Light  Brahma  Bantam 
hen  with  brood1 


1  Photograph  from  Brook  View  Farm,  Newbury,  Massachusetts. 


FOWLS  71 

England  about  a  hundred  years  ago,  by  Sir  John  Sebright,  for 
whom  they  were  named.  Although  the  large  Brahmas  and 
Cochins  are  originally  of  the  same  stock,  no  bantams  of  the 
colors  of  the  Brahmas  have  come  from  China.  The  Light  and 
Dark  Brahma  Bantams  were  made  in  England  and  America 
in  very  recent  times.  From  Japan  has  come  a  peculiar  type  of 
bantam  with  very  short  legs,  a  large  tail  carried  very  high,  and 
a  large  single  comb.  In  their  native  country  the  Japanese  Ban- 
tams are  not  separated  into  distinct  color  varieties.  In  England 
and  America  there  are  black,  white,  gray,  black-tailed  white, 
and  buff  varieties. 


CHAPTER  V 

MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS 

The  methods  of  managing  fowls  vary  according  to  the  con- 
ditions under  which  they  are  kept  and  the  time  that  the  keeper 
can  give  them.  Fowls  ought  to  have  an  outdoor  run,  and  it  is 
desirable  that  this  should  be  large  enough  to  be  kept  in  sod; 
but  very  few  people  in  towns  can  give  their  fowls  grass  yards, 
and  the  advantages  of  an  outdoor  run  will  not  in  themselves 
compensate  for  neglect  in  other  matters.  Hence  we  often  see 
fowls  under  poor  conditions,  with  good  care,  doing  better  than 
fowls,  in  a  much  more  favorable  environment,  that  are  given 
indifferent  care.  No  absolute  rules  for  keeping  fowls  under  any 
given  conditions  can  be  made.  In  general,  small  flocks  of  fowls 
that  have  free  range  or  large,  grassy  yards  need  very  little  atten- 
tion, while  those  that  are  closely  confined  require  a  great  deal. 

With  good  care  the  egg  production  of  fowls  in  close  confine- 
ment is  often  better  than  that  from  fowls  at  liberty,  but  if 
the  cost  of  caring  for  the  fowls  is  computed  at  current  rates 
for  common  labor,  the  rate  of  compensation  is  often  higher  on 
fowls  running  at  large  than  on  fowls  in  confinement  which  are 
producing  many  more  eggs.  The  question  of  profits  from  ama- 
teur poultry  keeping,  however,  should  not  be  considered  solely 
with  reference  to  the  compensation  for  time  used,  nor  should  such 
work  be  adjusted  wholly  with  reference  to  economic  results,  for  it 
combines  recreation,  education,  and  money  compensation,  and  the 
first  two  results  should  have  as  much  consideration  as  the  last. 

In  this  chapter  the  methods  adapted  to  small  flocks  are  first 
described  for  the  instruction  of  the  pupil,  and  then  descriptions 
of  operations  on  a  larger  scale  are  given  for  his  information. 

72 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS 


73 


SMALL  FLOCKS  ON  TOWN  LOTS 

Numbers  in  flocks.  The  average  number  of  fowls  kept  by  a 
town  family  for  its  own  use  is  about  one  dozen.  Very  few  who 
keep  hens  have  less  than  half  a  dozen,  and  not  many  who  plan 
only  to  supply  their  own  tables  have  more  than  a  dozen  and  a 
half.  Six  fowls,  if  well  cared  for,  will  produce  all  the  eggs  used 
by  an  average  family  of  two  or  three  persons  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  year. 

Houses  and  yards.  For  a  dozen  medium-sized  fowls  the 
house  should  be  about  8  ft.  x  8  ft.  on  the  ground,  with  the  highest 
point  of  the  roof 
about  6  or  7  feet 
from  the  floor.  The 
general  rule  is  to 
make  the  poultry 
house  face  the  sun, 
and  have  the  win- 
dows and  the  outside 
doors  in  or  near  the 
front.  The  object 
of  this  is  to  get  as 
much  sunlight  in 
the  house  as  possible 

in  winter,  when  the  sun  is  low,  and  to  have  the  walls  tight  that 
are  exposed  to  the  prevailing  cold  winds.  In  the  Northern 
Hemisphere  the  front  of  the  house  is  toward  the  south  ;  in 
the  Southern  Hemisphere  it  is  toward  the  north.  In  tropical 
and  subtropical  countries  houses  are  often  so  constructed  that 
they  can  be  kept  open  on  all  sides  in  summer  and  closed 
tightly,  except  in  front,  during  cool  weather. 

If  the  land  on  which  a  house  stands  is  sandy  and  well  drained, 
the  floor  may  be  of  earth.  The  common  practice  where  earth 
floors  are  used  is  to  fill  the  earth  level  with  the  top  of  the  sill 


FIG.  69.  Small  house  used  for  fowls  and  pigeons 


74  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

and  renew  it  once  a  year  by  removing  the  soil  that  has  become 
mixed  with  droppings  of  the  fowls  and  putting  in  fresh  earth. 
When  a  house  stands  on  wet  land  or  on  clay  soil,  it  is  better  to 
have  a  floor  of  boards  or  of  cement. 

Fowls  may  be  confined  to  a  house  for  a  year  or  more  and  lay 
well  and  be  in  apparently  good  condition  at  the  end  of  such  a 
period,  but  as  the  chickens  hatched  from  the  eggs  of  fowls  that 
have  been  so  closely  confined  for  even  a  few  months  are  almost 


FIG.  70.  An  old-style  small  poultry  house  and  yard 

invariably  less  vigorous  than  those  produced  from  fowls  that  live 
a  more  natural  life,  this  plan  is  not  much  used  except  by  those 
who  keep  a  few  fowls  for  their  eggs  only  and  renew  the  stock  by 
purchase  as  often  as  necessary. 

To  give  a  flock  of  a  dozen  fowls  outdoor  air  and  exercise 
enough  to  keep  them  in  good  condition,  a  yard  containing  about 
300  sq.  ft.  is  necessary.  There  is  no  perceptible  advantage  in 
giving  more  yard  room  than  this,  unless  the  yard  can  be  made 
so  large  that  grass  will  grow  continuously  in  the  greater  part 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS  75 

of  it.    On  most  soils  this  would  require  a  yard  containing  from 
750  to  1000  sq.  ft.  in  sod  before  being  used  for  poultry. 

When  fowls  are  confined  to  their  houses,  or  to  the  houses  and 
small  yards,  the  droppings  must  be  removed  at  frequent,  regular 
intervals.  To  facilitate  this  it  is  customary  to  have  a  wide  board, 
called  the  droppings  board,  under  the  roost  at  a  distance  of  eight 
or  ten  inches.  All  the  droppings  made  while  the  birds  are  on  the 
roost  fall  on  this  board  and  are  easily  collected  and  removed. 


FIG.  71.  Coop  and  shade  for  flock  of  Bantams1 

It  is  a  good  plan  to  keep  a  supply  of  dry  earth  in  a  convenient 
place,  and  strew  a  little  of  this  over  the  droppings  board  after 
each  cleaning.  Sifted  coal  ashes,  land  plaster,  and  dry  sawdust 
are  sometimes  used  instead  of  earth  on  the  droppings  boards. 
The  droppings  of  fowls,  when  not  mixed  with  other  matter, 
are  often  salable  for  use  in  tanning  leather,  but  in  most  cases 
the  difference  in  their  value  for  this  purpose  and  for  use  as 

1  The  coop  is  an  old  dry-goods  box ;  the  shade  is  a  burlap  bag.  Makeshift  arrange- 
ments are  not  always  nice  looking,  but  some  of  the  finest  chickens  are  kept  in  very 
poor  quarters. 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


FIG.  72.  Neat  house  for  six  hens 


plant  fertilizer  is  not  great  enough  to  pay  for  the  extra  trouble 

which  is  made  by  saving  them  for  the  tanners.   Poultry  manure 

is  one  of  the  most  valuable 
fertilizers  and  can  always  be 
used  to  good  advantage  on 
lawns  and  gardens. 

If  the  floor  is  of  wood  or 
of  cement,  a  thin  layer  of 
earth  or  sand  spread  upon  it 
makes  it  more  comfortable 
for  the  fowls.  On  all  kinds 
of  floors  the  modern  practice 
is  to  use  a  few  inches  of  litter 
of  some  kind.  There  is  a 

great  variety  of  materials  that  will  serve  this  purpose.    Lawn 

clippings  raked 'up  after  they  are  dry,  dried  weeds  and  grass 

from  the  garden,  leaves  collected  when  dry  and  stored  to  be  used 

as  wanted,  straw,  hay,  cornstalks  cut  into  short  lengths,  and 

shavings,   such    as    are    sold 

baled  for  bedding  horses  and 

cattle,   are  all   good.     Fresh 

litter  should  be  added  in  small 

quantities  about  once  a  week. 

About    once    a    month    the 

coarse  litter  on  top  should  be 

raked  aside,  and  the  fine  litter 

mixed  with  droppings  under- 
neath   removed.      Once    or 

twice  a  year  all  the  material 

should   be   taken   out  and  a 

fresh  start  made. 

When  kept  in  a  house  having  an  earth  floor,  fowls  will  scratch 

aside  the  litter  from  small  spaces  and  wallow  and  dust  themselves. 

In  houses  having  hard  floors,  shallow  boxes  about  2  ft.  square, 


FIG.    73.     House   for   a   dozen   fowls. 

Floor,  8  ft.  x  8  ft. ;  height  at  sides,  4  ft. ; 

height  in  middle,  7  ft. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS 


77 


containing  several  inches  of  dry  earth,  are  placed  for  the  birds' 
dust  baths.  Fresh  earth  must  be  provided  frequently  or  they 
will  not  use  the  bath  as  freely  as  is  desirable.  For  use  in 
winter  the  earth  must  be  so  dry  that  it  will  not  freeze,  but  the 
birds  prefer  earth  that  is  slightly  moist.  The  first  function  of 
the  dust  bath  is  to  clean  the  feathers,  and  damp  earth  does 
this  much  better  than  earth  that  is  very  dry.  In  wallowing  to 
clean  their  plumage  fowls  also  rid  themselves  of  lice.  When 
it  is  not  convenient 
to  store  much  earth, 
the  same  material 
may  do  double  serv- 
ice —  first  in  the 
dust  bath,  then  on 
the  droppings  board. 

In  a  bare  yard 
the  soil  should  be 
turned  over  often, 
all  the  matter  that 
can  be  raked  up 
with  a  fine  rake  hav- 
ing first  been  removed.  A  yard  that  is  in  grass  requires  little 
care  except  near  the  house,  where  the  ground  may  be  bare. 
Here  it  should  be  forked  over  occasionally. 

Feeding.  The  feeding  of  a  small  flock  of  fowls  is  a  very 
simple  process.  The  table  and  kitchen  waste  of  an  ordinary 
family  will  furnish  all  the  soft  food  that  they  need,  and  usually 
enough  green  food  to  prevent  their  suffering  for  lack  of  such 
foods  if  no  other  provision  is  made  for  supplying  them.  This 
waste  should  not  be  carried  from  the  house  as  it  is  made,  and 
thrown  on  the  ground  for  the  fowls  to  pick  out  of  the  dirt.  A 
better  way  is  to  provide  a  covered  jar  large  enough  to  hold  the 
accumulation  of  this  material  for  a  day.  Into  this  may  be  put  all 
the  leavings  from  the  table,  except  such  things  as  orange  and 


FIG.  74.   Small  houses  in  back  yard 


78  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

banana  peelings,  large  bones,  and  pieces  of  fat  meat.  Once  a 
day,  at  whatever  time  is  most  convenient,  the  contents  of  the 
jar  should  be  mixed  with  as  much  corn  meal  and  bran  (equal 
parts  by  measure)  as  will  take  up  the  water  in  them  and  make 
a  moist  but  not  sloppy  mash.  This  should  be  fed  in  a  clean 
trough.  If  the  trough  stands  high  enough  from  the  floor  to 
keep  the  contents  clean,  it  will  do  no  harm  if  more  food  is  given 
than  the  birds  will  eat  up  at  once,  but  the  quantity,  given  should 
never  be  so  great  that  it  will  not  be  eaten  before  the  next  feed- 
ing time. 

Most  people  find  the  morning  the  most  convenient  time  to 
give  the  mash.  If  the  mash  is  fed  in  the  morning,  a  small  feed 
of  hard  grain  should  be  given  about  noon,  and  a  more  liberal 
one  an  hour  or  two  before  sunset.  Some  poultry  keepers  feed 
the  different  grains  separately  ;  others  mix  them  before  feeding. 
Advocates  of  different  practices  often  imagine  advantages  for 
that  which  they  favor,  but  no  advantage  can  be  demonstrated 
for  either.  Wheat  and  cracked  corn  are  the  grains  most  used 
in  this  country ;  they  are  about  equal  in  feeding  value.  As 
corn  is  nearly  always  cheaper  than  wheat,  the  usual  practice  is 
to  feed  about  twice  as  much  corn.  When  the  grains  are  mixed, 
one  part  (by  measure)  of  wheat  is  used  to  two  parts  of  cracked 
corn.  When  they  are  fed  separately,  it  is  usual  to  feed  the 
wheat  at  noon,  as  the  light  feed,  and  the  corn  in  the  evening,  as 
the  heavy  feed.  All  the  common  grains  except  rye  make  good 
poultry  foods.  Why  fowls  do  not  like  rye  is  one  of  the  puzzles 
of  poultry  keeping.  In  some  countries  it  is  used  for  poultry 
to  a  greater  extent  than  in  the  United  States,  and  fowls  forced 
to  eat  it  here  have  done  very  well  for  short  periods,  but  will 
not  eat  it  readily  if  they  are  accustomed  to  other  grains  and  can 
get  enough  to  sustain  life  without  it.  Fowls  do  not  like  dry  oats 
so  well  as  corn  and  wheat,  but  have  not  such  a  dislike  for  them 
as  for  rye.  They  are  very  fond  of  oats  soaked  in  water  and 
partly  sprouted. 


FIG.  75.  With  curtains  closed 


FIG.  76.  With  one  curtain  open 


FIG.  77.  As  an  open-front  house 

POULTRY  HOUSE   USED  AT   THE  CENTRAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION, 

OTTAWA,   CANADA 

(Photograph  from  the  station) 

79 


8o 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


The  quantity  of  grain  to  be  given  any  flock  of  fowls  must  be 
determined  by  trial  and  observation.  The  grain  should  not  be 
fed  in  troughs  from  which  the  birds  can  eat  it  very  quickly, 
but  scattered  in  the  litter  on  the  floor,  so  that  the  fowls  will 
take  exercise  scratching  it  out,  and  eat  slowly.  There  is  an  ad- 
vantage in  giving  some  soft  and  quickly  digested  food,  but  if 
too  much  of  the  food  can  be  eaten  quickly,  the  birds  do  not 
take  exercise  enough.  When  there  is  grass  in  the  poultry  yard, 
it  is  a  good  plan  to  scatter  the  grain  in  the  grass  sometimes 


FIG.  78.  Flock  of  Barred  Plymouth  Rocks 

in  fine  weather.  The  hens  will  find  it  all,  and  in  scratching  it 
out  will  bring  up  the  dead  grass,  and  a  better  sod  will  grow 
afterward. 

A  dozen  medium-sized  fowls,  if  fed  in  the  morning  with  the 
mash  described  above,  would  probably  need  a  little  over  a  pint 
of  grain  in  the  middle  of  the  day  and  about  a  quart  toward  even- 
ing. An  experienced  feeder  can  usually  tell  by  the  eagerness 
of  the  fowls  for  their  food  whether  to  increase  or  diminish  the 
quantity ;  but  the  most  expert  poultry  keeper  does  not  rely 
upon  this  kind  of  observation  alone.  Occasionally,  before  giv- 
ing food,  he  looks  in  the  litter  to  see  if  there  is  grain  left 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS  81 

there  from  previous  feedings,  and  if  he  finds  much,  gives  no 
more  until  the  birds  have  eaten  this  all  up  clean. 

Water  should  be  given  as  often  as  is  necessary  to  keep  the 
supply  quite  fresh.  In  cool  (but  not  freezing)  weather,  once  a 
day  is  usually  sufficient.  In  hot  weather  the  water  should  be 
fresh  two  or  three  times  a  day,  in  order  that  the  birds  may 
have  cool  drinks.  In  freezing  weather  many  poultry  keepers 
give  the  water  warm,  because  then  it  does  not  freeze  so 
quickly.  The  advantage  of  this  is  very  slight,  and  wattles  that 


FIG.  79.  Flock  of  Single-Comb  White  Leghorns 

are  wet  with  warm  water  in  extreme  cold  weather  become  espe- 
cially susceptible  to  frost.  It  is  not  really  necessary  to  give 
fowls  water  when  they  can  get  snow  or  ice  in  a  form  in  which 
they  can  eat  it. 

Hens  that  are  laying  must  be  well  supplied  with  oyster  shells 
or  lime  in  some  form  for  the  shells  of  the  eggs.  They  can  get 
a  part  of  the  lime  required  for  this  purpose  from  the  lime  in 
foodstuffs,  but  not  nearly  enough  to  make  good  thick  shells  for 
all  their  eggs  when  they  are  laying  well.  Ground  oyster  shells 
are  sold  by  all  dealers  in  poultry  supplies. 


82 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


Growing  chickens.  Where  old  fowls  have  to  be  kept  in  close 
confinement,  very  little  can  be  done  in  growing  chickens.  Some 
amateur  poultry  keepers  raise  in  small,  bare  yards  birds  that  are 
as  good  as  the  average  chickens  grown  under  more  favorable 
conditions,  but  where  one  succeeds  in  doing  this  a  hundred 
fail.  Most  of  the  chickens  grown  in  close  quarters  are  very 


FIG.  80.  White  Wyandotte  hen  and  chicks 

poor  indeed  in  comparison  with  farm-grown  chickens,  and 
quite  unfit  to  be  kept  for  laying  or  breeding  purposes.  Those 
who  succeed  in  growing  good  chickens  in  a  small  place  usually 
give  a  great  deal  more  time  to  the  work  than  the  chickens  pro- 
duced are  worth.  The  best  way  for  a  poultry  keeper  so  situated 
to  get  as  much  as  possible  of  the  pleasure  of  this  interesting 
line  of  work  is  to  hatch  a  few  broods  and,  when  the  chicks  are 
large  enough,  broil,  eat,  or  sell  all  but  a  few  of  the  best  pullets 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS  83 

and  one  or  two  cockerels.  If  these  thrive,  they  may  be  worth 
keeping  for  a  year ;  but  if,  as  they  mature,  they  do  not  seem 
rugged,  it  is  not  wise  to  use  them  for  laying  stock. 

Where  there  is  room  to  give  young  chickens  a  good  grass 
yard,  a  limited  number  can  be  grown  to  maturity  year  after  year 
on  a  town  lot  and  used  for  laying  and  breeding  purposes.  Many 
town  poultry  keepers  who  might  grow  a  few  very  good  chickens 
never  grow  a  good  one  because  they  always  try  to  raise  too  many 
for  the  space  at  their  disposal.  Fifty  or  a  hundred  chickens  may 
be  kept  until  two  months  old  on  a  plot  of  land  only  large  enough 
to  carry  twelve  or  fifteen  to  maturity.  So  people  start  out  with 
a  great  many  more  chickens  than  they  ought  to  have  on  their 
land,  never  thinking  that  the  better  their  chickens  do  at  the 
start  the  sooner  they  will  begin  to  overcrowd  their  quarters,  and 
that  when  that  stage  is  reached,  the  promising  results  of  several 
months'  work  may  in  a  few  days  be  ruined  beyond  remedy. 
After  they  are  two  or  three  months  old,  young  chickens  will  not 
make  the  best  growth  of  which  they  are  capable  unless  they 
have  either  a  great  deal  of  room  or  a  great  deal  more  care  than 
most  people  who  raise  only  a  few,  and  have  other  work  to  do, 
can  afford  to  give  them. 

SMALL  FLOCKS  ON  ORDINARY  FARMS 

Numbers  in  flocks.  The  ordinary  farm  flock  consists  of  from 
fifty  to  one  hundred  adult  fowls  and,  during  the  growing  sea- 
son, from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  chickens.  The  old 
stock  is  usually  kept  in  one  or  more  small  houses  located  among 
the  other  outbuildings,  and  all  run  together  during  the  day.  If 
the  farmer  wants  to  keep  the  fowls  out  of  the  dooryard  and  the 
kitchen  garden,  he  does  not  make  yards  for  the  fowls,  but  in- 
closes the  dooryard  and  garden.  Outside  of  these  the  birds 
go  where  they  please.  The  coops  for  the  young  chickens  are 
often  kept  in  the  dooryard  or  the  garden  until  the  chickens 


84 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


are  weaned,  but  after  that  the  young  birds  are  nearly  always 
turned  out  to  take  their  chances  with  the  old  ones. 

Under  such  conditions  a  farm  flock  is  not  often  very  pro- 
ductive, yet,  as  the  birds  secure  a  large  part  of  their  food  by 
foraging,  the  flock  may  be  more  profitable  than  a  more  produc- 
tive flock  for  which  all  food  is  bought  and  upon  which  a  great 
deal  of  labor  is  expended.  While  this  way  of  keeping  fowls  on 
farms  is  not  in  itself  commendable,  it  is  not  to  be  altogether 


FIG.  81.  A  small  farm  stock  of  fowls,  ducks,  and  turkeys 

condemned,  because  circumstances  often  compel  the  farmer  to 
treat  his  fowls  as  a  sort  of  volunteer  or  self-producing  crop. 
The  conditions  on  a  farm  admit  of  this,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact 
the  greater  part  of  our  enormous  total  production  of  eggs  and 
poultry  comes  from  the  half-neglected  flocks  on  the  ordinary 
farms.  Hence  the  conditions  are  tolerable  where  they  are  neces- 
sary, but  whenever  it  is  possible  to  give  farm  fowls  enough  at- 
tention to  obviate  the  faults  of  common  practice,  the  product  and 
the  profits  can  be  greatly  increased  with  very  little  increase  in  the 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS  85 

cost  of  production.  In  this  section  we  consider  the  best  methods 
of  securing  this  result  when  all  the  old  stock  is  to  be  kept  as  one 
flock.  Old  stock  and  young  ought  always  to  be  separated  unless 
the  old  birds  constitute  an  insignificant  portion  of  the  flock. 

Single  houses  for  farm  flocks.  It  is  as  true  on  a  farm  as  else- 
where that  the  greatest  yields  of  eggs  and  the  best  growth  in 
young  birds  are  secured  when  the  flock  is  divided  into  small 
groups.  But  a  farm  flock  of  the  class  under  consideration, 
while  it  makes  its  headquarters  in  such  buildings  as  may  be 


FIG.  82.   Good  poultry  house  on  Texas  farm.     (Photograph  from  Bureau  of 
Animal  Industry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

provided,  will  forage  a  considerable  distance  in  every  direction, 
going  among  growing  crops  from  which  the  larger  farm  ani- 
mals must  be  excluded,  and  also  following  the  larger  animals  in 
their  stables,  yards,  and  pastures  and  picking  up  food  left  by 
them.  As  fowls  also  eat  many  weeds  and  seeds  of  weeds, 
and  all  kinds  of  destructive  insects,  the  advantages  of  letting 
them  run  at  large  more  than  make  up  for  lower  production. 
Also  the  production  is  normal  and  can  be  easily  maintained 
from  year  to  year  in  the  same  line  of  stock,  while  high  pro- 
duction secured  by  extra  care  is  forced  and  can  be  maintained 


86 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


in  the  same  line  of  stook  for  only  a  few  generations.  A  flock 
of  one  hundred  fowls  or  less,  that  run  together,  may  all  be  kept 
in  one  house  just  as  well  as  in  several,  if  the  size  of  the  house 
and  the  equipment  are  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  flock. 

If  the  snow  lies  long  on  the  ground,  so  that  the  fowls  are 
confined  to  the  house  much  of  the  time  in  winter,  the  allow- 
ance of  floor  space  should  be  about  5  sq.  ft.  per  bird.  Where 


FIG.  83.  Rude  poultry  house  on  a  Kansas  farm.    (Photograph  from  Bureau  of 
Animal  Industry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

the  snow  rarely  lies  more  than  a  day  or  two  at  a  time,  less  space 
may  be  given,  because  the  birds  will  not  occupy  the  house  much 
of  the  time  during  the  day.  Under  such  conditions  the  allow- 
ance of  floor  space  may  be  as  low  as  3  sq.  ft.  per  bird.  Those 
who  go  to  this  limit,  however,  should  consider  that,  in  the 
unusual  case  of  a  snowstorm  keeping  the  hens  confined  to  the 
house  for  more  than  a  very  few  days,  overcrowding  may  cause 
losses  that  more  than  offset  what  was  gained  by  using  the 
highest  capacity  of  the  house. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS  87 

Usually  a  flock  of  fifty  hens  needs  a  house  with  a  floor  surface 
of  about  2  50  sq.ft.  This  is  obtained  in  a  house  i6ft.  square 
or  in  a  house  12  ft.  x  24  ft.  A  house  20  ft.  square  is  about  right 
for  seventy-five  or  eighty  hens,  and  is  not  badly  overcrowded  if 
one  hundred  medium-sized  birds  are  put  into  it.  If  an  oblong 
building  is  preferred,  a  house  12  ft.  wide  by  42  ft.  long  gives 
one  hundred  birds  5  sq.  ft.  of  floor  space  per  bird.  Houses  of 


FIG.  84.  Good  poultry  house  on  a  Kansas  farm.    (Photograph  from  Bureau  of 
Animal  Industry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

such  size  should  be  from  4  ft.  to  7  ft.  high  at  the  sides,  and 
from  7  ft.  to  10  ft.  high  at  the  highest  point  of  the  roof, 
according  to  the  style  of  construction. 

Feeding.  In  the  feeding  of  a  farm  flock  the  first  thing  to 
consider  is  what  the  birds  can  pick  up  by  foraging.  The 
poultry  keeper  on  a  farm,  even  more  than  the  poultry  keeper 
elsewhere,  should  make  it  a  rule  to  do  nothing  for  poultry  that 
thev  can  do  for  themselves.  Fowls  can  do  more  for  themselves 


88 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


at  some  seasons  than  at  others,  because  natural  food  is  more 
abundant.  As  fowls  do  not  usually  go  very  far  from  their  house, 
the  larger  the  flock  the  less  food  each  bird  will  secure.  On  some 
farms  quite  a  large  flock  of  fowls  can  get  all  the  food  they 
need  about  the  barns  and  stockyards  and  in  orchards  and  fields 
near  the  homestead. 

When  the  conditions  are  such  that  it  may  reasonably  be  sup- 
posed that  the  fowls  can  get  all  the  food  they  require  without 


FIG.  85.    Poultry  house  at  Mississippi  Agricultural  College.1    (Photograph 
from  the  college) 

going  farther  than  fowls  usually  wander,  the  best  way  to  deter- 
mine whether  this  supposition  is  correct  is  to  give  them  no  food 
until  evening,  then  throw  out  a  little  grain  and  see  how  much 
they  will  eat.  If  it  appears  that  they  need  to  be  fed  a  consider- 
able quantity,  it  is  better  to  give  a  light  feed  in  the  morning  and 
another  in  the  evening  than  to  give  a  heavy  feed  once  a  day, 
because  if  they  learn  to  expect  a  full  feed  at  a  regular  time,  they 
will  not  forage  so  well.  Fowls  that  have  an  opportunity  to  secure 
considerable  food  by  foraging  should  never  be  fed  so  much  in 

1  In  this  house  the  part  of  the  rear  wall  above  the  roost  platform  is  made  to  open 
wide,  thus  affording  perfect  ventilation  in  summer. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS 


89 


the  morning  that  they  will  sit  around  for  hours.  When  hens  on 
a  farm  need  only  one  or  two  light  feeds  a  day,  whatever  grain 
is  most  convenient  may  be  given  them.  Where  they  get  so 
much  exercise  and  a  good  variety  of  other  foods,  whole  corn  is 
as  good  as  anything.  A  good  way  to  feed  it  is  to  break  the  ears 
into  short  pieces  and  let  the  birds  pick  the  grain  from  the  cob. 
In  winter  the  feeding  of  the  farm  flock  should  have  more 
attention,  especially  if  little  food  can  be  secured  around  the 
stables  and  stockyards.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  give,  once  a  day, 
a  warm  mash  made  of  I  part 
(by  measure)  of  corn  meal  and 
2  parts  of  bran,  and  to  give 
as  much  grain  at  one  other 
feeding  as  the  hens  will  eat. 
Some  farmers  use  sheaf  oats 
for  litter  in  the  floors  of  their 
poultry  houses,  throwing  in  a 
sheaf  or  two  as  often  as  is  nec- 
essary to  keep  a  good  depth 

Of  litter  On  the  floor,  and  then     FIG.  86.    Open-front   house  with  hood 
give  as  much  Corn  in  addition      (Photograph  from  Department  of  Agri- 

culture,  Victoria,  British  Columbia) 

as  the  hens  will  eat  readily. 

If  it  is  not  convenient  to  make  a  mash,  what  grain  the  fowls 
will  eat  quickly  from  a  trough  may  be  prepared  for  a  warm 
breakfast  for  them  by  pouring  boiling  water  on  it  in  the  eve- 
ning and  letting  it  soak  overnight.  Any  of  the  small  grains  and 
cracked  corn  may  be  fed  in  this  way ;  whole  corn  needs  longer 
soaking.  In  hard,  freezing  weather  no  more  mash  or  soaked 
grain  should  be  given  than  the  fowls  will  eat  before  it  can  freeze. 
A  favorite  old-time  practice  still  used  on  many  farms  is  to  heat 
shelled  corn  in  the  oven  and  feed  it  while  warm. 

The  best  vegetable  foods  for  fowls  in  winter  are  cabbages  and 
mangel -wurzels.  The  cabbages  can  be  hung  up  by  the  roots  and 
the  fowls  will  eat  all  but  the  stump.  The  most  convenient  way 


90  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

to  feed  the  beets  is  to  split  them  and  impale  the  pieces  on  spikes 
in  the  wall  at  a  convenient  distance  from  the  floor.  Sound, 
sweet  turnips  are  also  good,  but  bitter  turnips  and  those  that 
have  begun  to  spoil  are  likely  to  give  an  unpleasant  flavor  to 
the  eggs.  A  little  freezing  does  not  seem  to  affect  the  value  of 
these  vegetables  for  poultry  food,  and  the  birds  will  usually  eat 
them  when  frozen.  The  quantity  fed  at  one  time,  however, 


FIG.  87.  Movable  poultry  house  on  United  States  Government  farm,  Beltsville, 
Maryland.    (Photograph  from  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry) 

should  not  be  so  large  that  it  may  freeze  and  thaw  several 
times  before  it  is  all  eaten. 

When  hogs  and  cattle  are  killed  on  a  farm,  the  blood  and 
other  offal,  and  the  small  trimmings  when  the  carcasses  are 
cut  up,  should  be  saved  and  fed  to  the  fowls  regularly  in  mod- 
erate quantities,  but  care  should  be  taken  not  to  leave  fat 
trimmings  where  the  fowls  can  help  themselves,  for  if  fowls 
have  been  short  of  animal  food,  they  eat  meat  very  greedily 


FIG.  88.   The  upper  shutter  is  closed  only  at  night  in  extreme  cold  weather 


FIG.  89.  Lower  part  of  front  open  for  hot  weather 

ANOTHER  STYLE  OF  MOVABLE   HOUSE  AT  THE  UNITED  STATES 

GOVERNMENT   FARM,    BELTSVILLE,    MARYLAND 

(Photograph  from  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry) 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


and  are  often  made  sick  by  it.     Blood  and  lean  meat  are  not 
very  injurious,  but  too  much  fat  meat  has  very  bad  effects. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  give  the  fowls  water  when  there  is 
snow  on  the  ground.  Delicate  fowls  that  are  accustomed  to 
close  confinement  may  not  be  able  to  stand  running  out  on  the 
snow,  but  if  they  have  a  comfortable  house,  with  a  good  supply 
of  litter  on  the  floor,  and  are  free  to  go  and  come  at  will,  rugged 
birds  that  are  out  in  all  kinds  of  weather  are  not  in  the  least 

hurt  by  going  out  on 
snow  and  ice  and  wet 
ground  in  cold  weather, 
and  will  usually  take 
snow  in  preference  to 
water  when  they  can  get 
it.  When  the  ground  is 
bare  and  frozen,  water  or 
finely  chipped  ice  should 
be  supplied.  In  extreme 
cold  weather  the  latter  is 
better,  because  the  water 
soon  freezes  and  the  fowls 

FIG.  90.  Barred  Plymouth  Rock  hen  with 

Light  Brahma  chicks  go  thirsty  until  a  fresh 

supply  is  given  them. 

Reproducing  the  flock.  Fowls  are  short-lived  creatures.  They 
mature  in  less  than  a  year;  their  period  of  greatest  productive- 
ness is  usually  over  before  they  are  two  years  old,  and  only  a  very 
small  proportion  of  a  flock  are  worth  keeping  after  that.  Hence 
the  entire  stock  of  fowls  on  a  farm  is  renewed  in  two  years. 
Most  farmers  intend  to  kill  off  all  their  two-year-old  hens  each 
year,  thus  keeping  up  the  number  in  the  flock  by  growing  annu- 
ally about  as  many  young  birds  as  there  are  hens  in  the  flock. 
To  allow  for  losses,  for  an  excess  of  males,  and  for  inferior 
pullets  which  are  not  worth  keeping  for  layers,  it  is  necessary  to 
hatch  about  four  times  as  many  chickens  as  are  to  be  reserved. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS  93 

The  hatching  season.  Most  of  the  chickens  reared  on  farms 
are  hatched  in  the  spring  months.  The  late-hatched  chickens 
are  nearly  all  from  hens  that  steal  their  nests.  People  on  farms 
do  not  want  late  chickens ;  among  so  many  larger  ones  a  few 
small  birds  have  very  little  chance  to  make  good  growth.  But 
those  who  have  a  place  to  keep  a  few  early  chickens  and  time  to 
take  care  of  them  often  set  a  few  hens  in  the  winter.  Eggs  will 
hatch  at  any  season  of  the  year,  and  chickens  will  grow  if  they 
get  proper  care ;  but  there  is  a  comparatively  short  season  in  the 
spring  when  eggs  hatch  better  and  chickens  grow  better  than  at 
any  other  time,  and  the  easiest  way  to  get  a  given  number  of  good 
chickens  that  will  be  full-grown  at  the  beginning  of  winter  is 
to  hatch  them  in  this  natural  hatching  season.  This  season  can- 
not be  exactly  defined,  because  it  varies  according  to  latitude  and 
also  from  year  to  year  according  to  the  weather.  Perhaps  the  best 
general  rule  is  to  have  the  first  chicks  hatch  when  the  grass  is 
beginning  to  grow.  To  effect  this  the  hens  must  be  set  three 
weeks  earlier,  when  there  may  be  no  signs  of  spring.  No  one 
can  time  hatches  to  a  natural  phenomenon  of  this  kind  with 
certainty,  but  by  planning  with  reference  to  the  advance  of  spring 
in  a  normal  season,  the  first  hatches  are  usually  brought  very 
near  to  the  desired  time. 

Broody  hens.  When  a  hen  wants  to  incubate  eggs,  or,  as  the 
common  phrase  is,  to  sit,  she  remains  on  her  nest  continuously 
and,  unless  very  shy,  will  not  leave  it  when  approached  and  will 
resent  any  interference.  The  hen  is  then  said  to  be  broody. 
Because  the  broody  hen  makes  a  clucking  noise,  she  is  some- 
times called  a  clucking  hen.  Hens  that  are  shy  when  they  be- 
gin to  cluck,  and  that  fly  from  the  nest  when  approached,  usually 
become  tame  and  allow  themselves  to  be  handled  after  a  few 
days.  Broody  hens  cannot  always  be  obtained  at  the  time  they 
are  wanted.  In  that  case  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  wait,  or  try 
to  buy,  hire,  or  borrow  them.  There  is  no  way  of  forcing  or 
inducing  hens  to  become  broody  before  they  would  do  so  of 


94  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

their  own  accord.  When  broody  hens  are  hard  to  get,  people 
think  that  hatching  with  incubators  will  relieve  them  of  trouble 
and  prevent  delay,  but  the  incubator,  too,  has  its  uncertainties. 
Success  in  artificial  hatching  requires  careful  attention  to  the 


FIG.  91.  Nest  boxes,  made  in  pairs,  for  sitting  hens.   Inside  dimen- 
sions: large,  16"  x  16"  x  iS/r;  small,  12"  x  12"  x  15" 

operation   of  the  incubator  and   good   judgment   in   adjusting 
and  regulating  it. 

Setting  the  hens.  As  many  broody  hens  as  can  be  obtained 
should  be  set  at  the  same  time.  The  most  convenient  style  of 
nest  is  that  shown  in  Figs.  91  and  92,  which  can  be  kept  closed  if 
desired.  The  best  nest  material  is  soft  hay  or  straw.  In  prepar- 
ing the  nest  a  poultry  keeper  shapes  the  nest  material  with  his 


FIG.  92.   Same  as  Fig.  91,  with  nest  boxes  closed 

hand,  to  give  it  a  bowl  shape,  pressing  it  down  to  make  a  smooth, 
firm  surface  upon  which  the  eggs  will  lie  evenly.  It  is  a  good 
plan  to  make  the  nests  and  place  the  hens  in  them,  giving  to 
each  a  few  China  nest  eggs  two  or  three  days  before  the  eggs 
that  are  to  be  hatched  are  given  to  them.  The  eggs  for  hatching 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS  95 

should  be  of  good  size  and  shape,  with  good  strong  shells,  and  as 
uniform  in  color  as  can  be  obtained.  The  usual  number  of  eggs 
placed  under  a  hen  is  thirteen.  After  the  weather  becomes  warm, 
even  a  small  hen  will  cover  thirteen  eggs  well,  and  medium-sized 
hens  will  cover  fifteen  or  sixteen  eggs  and  often  hatch  every 
one,  but  early  in  the  season  it  is  better  to  give  a  hen  eleven 
eggs  or  perhaps  only  nine.  The  number  of  eggs  given  a  hen  is 
almost  always  an  odd  number.  There  is  an  old  superstition  that 
an  even  number  will  not  hatch.  The  reason  commonly  given 
by  writers  on  poultry  is  that  an  odd  number  of  eggs  arrange 
in  better  form  in  the  nest,  but  this  is  mere  fancy.  How- 
ever the  practice  started,  the  real  reason  why  odd  numbers  of 
eggs  are  placed  in  nests  of  sitting  hens  now  is  that  the  custom 
is  so  well  established,  and  the  habit  of  thinking  of  eggs  for  hatch- 
ing in  odd  numbers  is  so  strong,  that  most  poultry  keepers  do  it 
unconsciously. 

Care  of  sitting  hens.  The  best  food  for  sitting  hens  is  whole 
corn.  As  the  hen  will  leave  the  nest  only  once  a  day,  and  not 
always  daily  unless  removed,  the  food  is  given  in  a  vessel  from 
which  she  can  eat  it  readily.  The  usual  way  is  to  keep  a  supply 
where  the  hens  are,  so  that  whenever  they  leave  the  nest  they 
can  get  something  to  eat.  Whether  to  let  them  choose  their 
own  time  to  leave  the  nest  or  to  keep  the  nests  closed  except 
when  they  are  let  off  at  a  regular  time  each  day  is  a  point  to  be 
determined  in  each  case  according  to  the  circumstances.  If  all 
the  hens  in  the  same  place  are  quiet  and  get  along  well  together 
and  do  not  quarrel  for  the  possession  of  particular  nests,  they 
may  be  left  very  much  to  themselves  ;  otherwise  the  poultry 
keeper  should  regulate  things  so  that  there  will  be  no  quar- 
reling and  no  danger  of  a  nest  of  eggs  getting  cold  while  two 
hens  crowd  on  another  nest  and  break  some  of  the  eggs  in  it. 

Besides  grain  the  hens  need  water  and  a  place  to  dust.  Most 
sitting  hens  will  dust  themselves  every  time  they  leave  the  nest, 
if  they  have  an  opportunity  to  do  so.  As  lice  multiply  rapidly 


96  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

on  sitting  hens,  it  is  a  good  idea,  even  when  the  hen  can  dust 
herself,  to  apply  an  insect  powder  to  her  and  to  the  nest  two 
or  three  times  during  the  period  of  incubation. 

The  eggs  may  be  tested  at  the  end  of  the  seventh  day  by  using 
a  light,  as  described  on  page  21.  While  fertility  can  be  deter- 
mined earlier,  waiting  until  the  seventh  day  enables  one  to  tell 
more  surely  whether  fertility  is  strong  or  weak,  and  to  discard 
weak  germs  as  well  as  infertile  eggs.  An  infertile  egg  is  clear, 
that  is,  shows  no  signs  of  development  or  decay,  at  every  period 
of  incubation.  The  eggs  that  rot  are  fertile  eggs  in  which  the 
germs  have  died.  A  rotten  egg  is  distinguished  from  a  fertile 
egg  through  the  tester  by  the  movement  of  the  line  between  the 
transparent  air  space  at  the  large  end  of  the  egg  and  the  dark  con- 
tents, this  movement  showing  that  the  contents  are  in  a  fluid  state. 
The  eggs  which  are  the  most  opaque  and  have  the  air  space  most 
distinctly  marked  are  those  which  have  the  strongest  germs. 
Eggs  that  are  conspicuously  light-colored  (as  they  appear  before 
the  light )  when  compared  with  these  may  as  well  be  discarded. 
If  many  eggs  are  discarded,  those  that  remain  may  be  given  to  a 
part  of  the  hens,  and  the  rest  of  the  hens  reset. 

Attention  at  hatching  time.  The  eggs  of  medium-sized  fowls 
usually  hatch  in  from  twenty  to  twenty-one  days.  The  eggs  of 
small  fowls  take  about  a  day  less,  and  those  of  large  fowls  about 
a  day  more.  Hens'  eggs  have  been  known  to  hatch  as  early 
as  the  seventeenth  day  and  as  late  as  the  twenty-fourth,  but 
as  a  rule  chickens  that  come  before  the  nineteenth  day  or  after 
the  twenty-second  are  weakly.  Hens  sometimes  trample  the 
chickens  in  the  nests  or  crush  the  eggs  after  they  are  picked, 
so  that  the  chicken  cannot  turn  to  break  the  shell  in  the  regular 
manner.  Sometimes  this  is  due  to  the  nervousness  or  to  the 
clumsiness  of  the  hen,  but  oftener  it  is  caused  by  the  nest  being 
too  much  dished  (that  is,  hollowed  so  much  that  the  eggs  tend  to 
roll  toward  the  center)  or  by  lice  disturbing  her.  The  chickens 
may  be  saved  either  by  removing  them  to  other  broody  hens  or  by 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS 


97 


FIG.  93.  Coop  for  hen  and  chicks, 
to  be  used  without  run 


putting  them  in  a  flannel  wrapping  in  a  warm  place.  Unless,  how- 
ever, the  conditions  are  bad,  it  is  better  to  leave  them  with  the 
hen.  Hens  with  little  chicks  should  be  left  in  the  nests  until 

all  the  eggs  that  will  hatch  have 
hatched  and  the  chicks  are  dry 
and  begin  to  show  an  inclina- 
tion to  run  about.  Then,  if  the 
weather  is  fine,  the  hen  and  her 
brood  may  be  taken  at  once  to 
a  coop  out  of  doors,  but  if  it  is 
cold  or  stormy,  the  little  chicks 
are  better  indoors. 

Coops  for  broods.    The  coop 
for  a  hen  and  chickens  should 

be  so  constructed  that  they  will  have  plenty  of  fresh  air  at  night. 

There  should  be  a  small  run  attached  to  it,  to  which  the  hen 

can  be  confined  while  the  chickens  run  about  or  come  to  her 

to  be  brooded,  as  they  may  wish.    It  is  not  a  good  plan  to  let  a 

hen  run  with  her  brood  while 

the  chicks  are  very  small.    The 

chickens  do  much  better  if  the 

mother    is   confined    and   gives 

more  attention  to  keeping  them 

warm    than    to    feeding    them. 

The  coops  should  not  be  placed 

in  the  same  spot  year  after  year, 

nor  should  they  be  on  land  upon 

which  the  old  fowls  run  during 

any  considerable  portion  of  the 

year.    Sod  ground  is  best. 

Feeding  young  chickens.    From  early  times  in  America  the 

most  common  food  for  young  chickens  has  been  corn  meal  mois- 
tened with  water.    When  fresh  this  is  a  good  food  for  chickens 

that  run  about  and  eat  a  great  deal  of  green  food,  insects,  worms, 


FIG.  94.  Coop  to  be  used  with  runs, 
as  in  Fig.  95 


98  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

and  small  seeds,  but  a  mash  of  scalded  corn  meal  and  bran,  such 
as  is  given  old  fowls,  or  a  baked  johnnycake,  is  better.  There 
is  no  need  of  fussing  with  such  foods  as  finely  chopped  hard- 
boiled  eggs,  cracker  crumbs,  pinhead  oatmeal,  and  other  things 
often  recommended  as  most  appropriate  for  the  first  feeds  of 
little  chicks.  Healthy  hen-hatched  chicks  raised  by  the  natural 
method  on  a  farm  need  nothing  but  one  soft  feed  (such  as 
has  been  mentioned)  in  the  morning,  a  little  hard  grain  toward 


FIG.  95.  Coops  and  runs  for  hens  and  chicks1 

evening,  and  then,  just  before  dark,  all  the  soft  food  they  will 
eat.  The  best  grain  for  them  is  sound  cracked  corn ;  the  next 
best  is  wheat.  The  chickens  should  have  good  water  always 
before  them,  and  may  be  given  all  the  milk  they  want.  Skim 
milk,  sour  milk  (either  thin  or  clabbered),  and  buttermilk  are  all 
eaten  with  relish  and  promote  health  and  growth.  Vessels  in 
which  milk  is  given  must  be  cleaned  often  or  they  will  become 
very  filthy. 

1  Burlap  bags  are  used  to  shade  the  interior  or  to  keep  out  rain.    When  not  in  use 
they  are  turned  back  on  the  top  of  the  coop. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS 


99 


FIG.  96.  Small  house  for  growing  chicks 
in  Maine  orchard 


Management  of  growing  chicks.  Of  course,  healthy  chickens 
are  growing  all  the  time,  and  growing  at  a  very  rapid  rate,  too ; 
but  after  the  chicks  are  weaned,  they  have  usually  reached  the 

point  in  growth  when  the 
increase  in  size  in  a  short 
period  is  very  noticeable. 
So  poultry  keepers  commonly 
speak  of  chickens  from  wean- 
ing time  until  maturity  as 
growing  chicks.  At  this  time 
the  rudest  kind  of  shelter  will 
suit  them  as  well  as  any.  In- 
deed, they  hardly  need  shelter 
from  the  weather  at  all.  The 
most  essential  things  are  a 
good  range,  apart  from  the  old  fowls,  and  an  abundance  of  food. 
They  should  be  able  to  pick  up  a  great  deal  of  food  for  them- 
selves, but  should  have  enough  given  them  to  make  sure  that 
they  always  have  all 
the  food  they  can 
eat.  It  does  not 
pay  to  stint  them 
to  make  them  for- 
age farther.  Young 
chickens  will  always 
take  all  the  exercise 
that  they  need  if 
they  have  the  op- 
portunity, and  the 
more  they  eat  the 
better  they  grow. 

When  the  range  near  their  coops  ceases  to  afford  them  good 
picking,  the  coops  should  be  moved  to  a  place  where  the  food 
to  be  secured  by  foraging  is  more  abundant. 


FIG.  97.  Small  house  for  growing  chicks,  in  orchard 
in  New  York  State 


IOO 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


LARGE  STOCKS  ON  GENERAL  FARMS 

When  farmers  in  America  began  to  keep  larger  stocks  of 
fowls,  the  most  common  practice  nearly  everywhere  was  to  in- 
crease the  general  flock  until  there  were  far  too  many  fowls  on 
the  land  that  they  would  usually  forage  over.  Under  such  con- 
ditions fowls  on  the  farm  were  not  profitable.  They  damaged 
every  crop  to  which  they  had  access,  and  made  the  farm  most 
unsightly  in  the  vicinity  of  the  dwelling  house.  Then  some 
farmers  would  reduce  the  flock  and  return  to  the  old  practice  of 

keeping  only  a  few  dozen  hens, 
while  others  would  adopt  the 
city  plan  of  building  houses  with 
many  compartments  and  keep- 
ing the  fowls  yarded  in  small 
flocks.  This  plan  was  usually 
abandoned  within  a  few  years,  be- 
cause, while  it  worked  very  well 
in  the  winter,  when  the  farmer 
had  time  to  give  the  hens  extra 
care,  they  were  not  as  well  off 
in  the  summer,  when  the  farmer 


FIG.  98.    Stone  poultry  house  about 

two  hundred  years  old,  on  farm  of 

F.    W.    C.   Almy,     Tiverton     Four 

Corners,     Rhode    Island 


had  to  give  attention  to  his  field  crops  first.   Such  was  the  usual 
course  of  development  of  farm  methods  of  managing  fowls. 

The  colony  system.  But  occasionally  a  farmer  whose  flock 
had  outgrown  its  accommodations  as  one  flock  would  divide  it, 
moving  a  part  to  another  place  on  the  farm,  and  so  was  able  to 
maintain  the  increase  in  numbers  without  adopting  laborious 
methods.  This  idea  was  carried  out  most  systematically  and 
most  extensively  in  the  vicinity  of  Little  Compton,  Rhode 
Island,  where  the  Rhode  Island  Red  fowl  originated.  The  first 
settlers  in  this  part  of  Rhode  Island  built  large  stone  poultry 
houses  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  98.  Some  of  these  old  build- 
ings are  still  used  for  poultry.  This  district  is  most  favorably 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWI^S 


situated  for  poultry  keeping.    The  snowJ  rarely  "lie's  long,  and 

the  birds  can  be  outdoors  nearly  every  day  in  winter  as  well  as 

in  summer.    Being  near  the 

fashionable  summer  resort  of 

Newport,    the   farmers   here 

early  found  a  large  demand 

for  their  eggs  and  poultry  at 

high   prices   in  the  summer 

time,   when   in  many  places 

the  prices  were  low.     Then 

in  the  winter  they  could  send 

eggs   to   Boston   and    Provi- 


FIG.  99.    Rhode  Island  colony  poultry 
house  for  thirty-five  fowls 


dence,  which  were  the  best 

markets   in  the   country   for 

this  class  of  produce.    So  these  farmers  had  every  inducement 

to  devise  a  practical   method  of  indefinitely  increasing  their 

stocks  of  fowls.   The  plan  which  they  adopted  was  very  simple. 


FIG.  100.  Colony  poultry  houses  on  Rhode  Island  farm 

Small  houses,  which  could  easily  be  moved  from  place  to 
place  with  a  two-horse  team,  and  which  would  accommodate 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  fowls,  were  made  and  distributed 


IQ2  t 


OTO   DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


over  the  farm.  Sometimes  these  houses  were  placed  in  pastures 
not  suitable  for  mowing  or  for  cultivation  and  remained  there 
permanently,  but  as  a  rule  they  were  moved  from  time  to  time 
to  suit  the  rotation  of  crops  on  the  farm.  As  the  number  of 
these  houses  on  a  farm  increased,  and  they  were  spread  over  a 
larger  area  and  sometimes  placed  in  fields  and  pastures  a  long 
distance  from  the  farmhouse,  the  work  of  caring  for  the  fowls, 
even  by  the  simple  method  used,  became  too  heavy  to  be  done 
by  man  power  alone,  and  a  horse  and  cart  .was  used  in  carrying 
food  and  water,  collecting  eggs,  and  moving  chicks  and  fowls 


FIG.  101.  Collecting  eggs  on  Rhode  Island  farm.    The  little  girl  is  in  the  box 
in  which  dough  is  carried  in  the  morning 

from  one  part  of  the  farm  to  another.  Thus  the  work  was  put 
on  a  very  economical  basis,  and  keeping  fowls  by  this  method 
became  a  common  feature  of  the  farming  of  this  section  of 
Rhode  Island.  The  methods  used  here  have  changed  little,  if  at 
all,  since  the  system  was  started  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago.  The 
system  is  so  primitive  that  people  who  are  familiar  with  more 
elaborate  methods  often  imagine  that  the  Rhode  Island  farmer, 
who  does  so  well  by  his  simple  methods,  would  certainly  do  very 
much  better  if  he  applied  more  of  the  modern  ideas .  But  the  test 
of  time  has  demonstrated  that  this  simple  colony  system  is  easily 
made  permanent,  while  most  of  the  more  ambitious  and  complex 
systems  either  fail  utterly  or  have  but  a  transient  success. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS 


103 


Numbers  of  hens  kept.  The  number  of  hens  kept  on  a  farm 
in  this  section  varies  from  four  or  five  hundred  to  over  two 
thousand.  Stocks  of  from  eight  hundred  to  twelve  hundred  are 
most  common.  The  principal  object  is  to  produce  market  eggs, 
but  as  the  two-year-old  hens  and  the  cockerels  that  are  not 
needed  for  breeding  purposes  are  sold  every  year,  the  receipts 
from  the  sale  of  live  poultry  are  sometimes  considerable. 


FIG.  102.  Colony  houses  at  Michigan  Agricultural  College.   (Photograph  from 

the  college) 

Feeding,  care,  and  results.  The  hens,  being  well  distributed 
over  the  farm,  pick  a  large  part  of  their  living.  Hard  grain 
(usually  cracked  corn)  is  kept  always  before  them  in  the  house, 
in  hoppers  which  will  hold  a  bag  of  grain  each.  Once  a  day,  in 
the  morning,  the  hens  are  given  a  feed  of  mash  (or,  as  it  is 
called  in  this  locality,  dough)  of  about  the  same  composition  as 
the  mash  described  on  page  89.  The  dough  is  cooked  in  a 
large  iron  set-kettle  in  the  evening  and  left  there  until  it  is  to 
be  fed  the  next  morning.  Then  it  is  loaded  into  boxes  or  large 


104 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


tubs  on  a  cart.  The  cart  also  carries  a  barrel  of  water.  As  he 
reaches  each  house  the  driver,  with  a  shovel,  throws  what  dough 
the  hens  need  on  the  grass  near  the  house.  Then  he  fills  the 


FIG.  103.  Moving  one  of  the  houses  in  Fig.  102 

water  pail  and  drives  on  to  the  next  house.  The  hens  require 
no  more  attention  until  evening,  when  the  man  collects  the  eggs 
and  gives  more  water  where  it  is  necessary. 

Some  of  the  smaller  stocks  of  fowls  on  these  farms  —  flocks 
that  have  been  selected  with  care  and  are  given  a  little  more 
attention  than  is  usual — give  an  average  annual  production  of 


FIG.  104.   Colony  houses  at  Iowa  Agricultural  College.    (Photograph  from 

the  college) 

eleven  or  twelve  dozen  eggs  a  hen,  but  the  general  average  is 
only  eight  or  nine  dozen.  Although  the  profit  per  hen  is  small, 
the  compensation  for  labor  and  investment  is  better  than  on 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS  105 

most  poultry  plants  where  a  much  greater  product  per  hen  is 
secured.  Even  when  eggs  are  the  most  important  money  crop 
on  the  farm,  the  care  of  the  laying  hens  is  but  a  small  part  of 
the  day's  work  of  the  man  who  looks  after  them. 

How  the  chickens  are  grown.  The  number  of  chickens  reared 
each  year  on  one  of  these  colony  farms  is  usually  about  equal  to 
the  number  of  fowls  kept.  Where  there  are  so  many  hens  of  a 
sitting  variety,  and  very  early  hatching  is  not  practiced,  there  is 
rarely  any  shortage  of  sitting  hens  at  the  time  when  they  are 
wanted.  Usually  twenty  or  thirty  hens  are  set  at  the  same  time, 
and  it  is  expected  that  they  will  hatch  eight  or  ten  chickens 


FIG.  105.  Colony  houses  at  Hampton  Institute 

each.  Sometimes  sixty  or  seventy  hens  are  set  at  one  time.  As 
it  is  almost  always  quite  warm  when  the  chickens  are  hatched,  it 
is  customary  to  give  each  hen  twenty  or  more  chickens.  The 
coops  are  placed  in  rows,  several  rods  apart  each  way,  on  a 
piece  of  grassland  that  has  had  no  poultry  on  it  for  a  year  or 
more.  Most  of  the  farmers  are  very  particular  on  this  point, 
and  prefer  to  put  the  young  chickens  on  land  on  which  there 
has  been  no  poultry  for  at  least  two  years.  They  have  learned 
by  experience  that  under  such  conditions  they  can  rear  a  much 
larger  percentage  of  the  chickens  hatched,  and  that  the  chickens 
will  grow  more  evenly  and  mature  earlier.  In  planning  the 
field  crops  grown  on  the  farm  they  always  try  to  arrange  so 


io6 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


that  the  small  chickens  may  have  fresh  land  not  too  far  from 

the  farmhouse;  land  seeded  to  grass  the  year  before  is  best. 
The  chickens  are  fed  the  same  dough  as  is  given  to  the 

hens,  but  are  fed  oftener.  They  have  a  second  meal  of  dough 

about  noon,  and  their  grain 
supply,  which  is  given  in  small 
troughs,  is  replenished  fre- 
quently. While  the  hens  are 
with  the  chickens  the  food 
is  placed  where  the  hen  con- 
fined to  the  coop  can  get  her 
share.  After  the  hens  are 
taken  away,  the  dough  is 
thrown  on  the  grass  as  the 

FIG.  106.  Coop  for  hen  and  chicks,  used    cart  passes  up  and  down  the 

on  Rhode  Island  farm  rQWS  Qf  CQOps> 

When  the  hay  has  been  harvested  and  the  corn  has  grown 
tall,  a  part  of  the  young  chickens  may  be  removed  from  the  land 
where  they  were  started,  and  the  coops  placed  where  they  can 
forage  on  mowing  lands,  in  cornfields,  and  wherever  they  can 
go  without  damage  to  a  grow- 
ing crop.  As  they  become  too 
crowded  in  the  small  coops, 
the  cockerels  are  sold  and,  if 
there  are  still  too  many  birds 
in  a  coop,  a  few  pullets  are 
taken  from  each  of  the  over- 
crowded coops  and  new  colo- 
nies are  started,  so  far  from 

their  old  associates  that  they     FlG-  I07-    Colony   house    for    growing 

will  not  find  their  way  back.    chicks'  at  Macdonald  Collese-   (phot°- 

graph  from  the  college) 

An  the  early  fall  as  many 

of  the  oldest  hens  are  sold  as  is  necessary  to  vacate  the  houses 
needed  for  the  pullets  reared  that  season.    Then  the  houses  are 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS  107 

thoroughly  cleaned.  (They  may  not  have  been  cleaned  before 
for  six  months  or  a  year.)  If  a  house  is  to  be  moved  to  a  new 
location,  the  change  is  usually  made  at  this  time.  One  or  two 
cartloads  of  clean  sand  are  put  into  each  house,  to  make  the 
floor  higher  than  the  ground  outside  and  to  provide  an  absorbent 
for  the  droppings  which  are  allowed  to  accumulate.  When  they 
are  brought  to  the  house,  which  will  probably  be  their  home  as 
long  as  they  live,  the  pullets  are  confined  to  the  house,  or 
a  small  temporary  yard  is  attached  to  it,  so  that  they  cannot 
wander  away.  After  a  few  days  of  confinement  they  accept  the 
new  home  as  their  headquarters. 

Adaptability  of  the  colony  system.  The  colony  system  as 
developed  in  Rhode  Island  attracted  little  attention  elsewhere 
until  very  recent  years.  Since  about  1900  many  descriptions  of 
it  have  been  published,  and  numerous  efforts  have  been  made 
to  adapt  features  of  this  system  to  operations  in  other  localities. 
The  principal  obstacles  to  this  are  snow  and  predacious  animals. 
Where  snow  lies  deep  for  months  it  is  not  practical  to  keep 
fowls  in  widely  distributed  flocks  in  winter.  In  some  places  the 
plan  of  distributing  the  houses  in  summer  and  parking  them 
(that  is,  placing  them  close  together  in  a  regular  order)  in 
winter  has  worked  very  well.  Where  wild  animals  are  numerous, 
colony  methods  cannot  be  extensively  applied,  but  on  most  farms 
a  limited  application  of  the  system  will  greatly  increase  the 
amount  of  poultry  that  can  profitably  be  kept. 

In  England  many  farmers  use  smaller  colony  houses  than 
those  in  use  in  Rhode  Island,  and  move  them  often,  not  letting 
a  house  stand  in  the  same  spot  long  enough  to  kill  the  grass. 
Some  of  the  houses  used  in  this  way  are  provided  with  small 
wheels.  The  advantage  of  moving  houses  often  is  greatest 
when  the  fowls  are  on  good  arable  land,  upon  which  there  are, 
or  will  be,  crops  that  can  utilize  the  manure  which  the  birds 
leave  on  the  land.  If  the  houses  are  moved  methodically,  the 
fertilizer  will  be  evenly  distributed. 


108  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

INTENSIVE  POULTRY  FARMS 

Reasons  for  concentration.  In  the  early  days  of  the  poultry 
fancy  in  this  country  the  tendency  was  for  each  fancier  to  keep 
as  many  different  varieties  as  he  could  find  room  for  or  could 
afford  to  buy.  Most  of  these  fanciers  were  city  people  who 
thought  that,  as  they  kept  their  fowls  in  small  flocks  anyway, 
they  might  just  as  well  have  as  many  different  kinds  of  poultry 


FIG.  108.  Colony  houses  in  foreground  ;  sheds  for  ducks  beyond.  (Photograph 
from  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

as  they  had  separate  compartments  in  their  poultry  yards.  When 
rich  men  with  large  estates  became  interested  in  fancy  poultry, 
they  usually  built  large  houses  containing  many  small  pens,  each 
with  its  small  yard,  and  bought  a  few  of  each  known  variety. 
By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  choicest  poultry  was  kept  in  small 
inclosures,  and  the  flocks  that  laid  remarkably  well  were  usually 
city  flocks  that  were  given  good  care.  This  seemed  to  a  great 
many  people  to  prove  that  fowls  did  not  need  the  room  and 
the  freedom  which  for  ages  they  had  enjoyed  on  farms,  and 
that  the  limit  of  the  possible  extension  of  the  city  method  of 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS 


109 


keeping  fowls  in  small,  bare  yards  depended  in  any  case  upon 
the  business  capacity  of  the  poultry  keeper. 

Concentration  not  profitable.  Very  few  people  who  have  not 
had  experience  in  growing  large  numbers  of  poultry  under  both 
good  and  bad  conditions  can  be  made  to  understand  how  futile 
industry  and  business  methods  are  when  many  other  things 
which  affect  results  are  unfavorable.  Even  when  the  obstacles 
to  the  application  of  intensive  methods  on  a  large  scale  are 
pointed  out  to  them,  most  novices  imagine  that  the  difficulties 
are  exaggerated  for  the  purpose  of  discouraging  them.  They 
think  that  the  successful  poultry  keeper  wishes  to  discourage 


FIG.  109.   Commercial  laying  house  at  New  Jersey  Experiment  Station. 
(Photograph  from  the  station) 

competition,  and  that  the  person  who  has  failed  does  not  want 
to  see  any  one  else  succeed,  and  so  warns  others  to  let  such 
projects  alone.  Those  who  have  been  very  successful  in  their 
first  efforts  in  a  small  way  seldom  lack  perfect  confidence  in 
their  ability  to  make  good  on  any  scale  if  once  they  are  in  a 
position  to  devote  themselves  entirely  to  this  work. 

For  some  seventy  or  eighty  years,  but  more  especially  for 
the  last  thirty  or  forty  years,  the  most  conspicuous  phase  of 
the  poultry  industry  in  America  has  been  the  widespread  and 
continuous  movement  to  develop  large  plants  of  this  character. 
There  has  been  no  time,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  when  poultry 
plants  of  this  kind,  which  to  the  uninitiated  appeared  to  be  highly 


no  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

profitable,  have  not  been  numerous.  The  owners  of  many  of 
these  plants  have  claimed  that  they  were  making  very  large 
profits,  and  their  claims  have  led  others  to  engage  in  the  business, 
following  in  every  detail  the  methods  in  use  on  some  large  plant 
which  they  suppose  is  very  successful.  So,  while  well-informed 
poultry  keepers  know  that  these  methods  are  not  practical  on  a 
large  scale,  except  in  a  few  limited  lines  of  production,  there  is 


FIG.  1 10.    Interior  of  a  compartment  in  commercial  poultry  house,  United 

States  Government  farm,  Beltsville,  Maryland.    (Photograph  from  Bureau  of 

Animal  Industry) 

in  the  business  a  constant  succession  of  newcomers  who  try  to 
operate  egg  farms  and  breeding  farms  and  combinations  of 
various  lines  by  methods  that  are  not  suited  to  their  purpose. 
Common  type  of  intensive  poultry  farm.  The  ordinary  special 
poultry  farm  is  a  run-down  farm  upon  which  have  been  erected 
the  buildings  necessary  for  the  accommodation  of  from  four  or 
five  hundred  to  two  or  three  thousand  fowls  kept  in  compara- 
tively small  yards.  The  buildings  are  nearly  always  neat  and 
substantial,  the  fences  strong  and  durable.  The  arrangement  of 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS  in 

the  plant  is  orderly,  and,  when  well  stocked  with  fowls  and  kept 
clean,  it  presents  a  most  attractive  appearance.  The  houses  and 
yards  for  adult  stock,  the  incubator  cellar  and  the  brooder  houses, 
the  barns  and  sheds,  and  the  dwelling  of  the  owner  or  manager 
occupy  but  a  very  small  part  of  the  farm  —  usually  from  one 
to  three  acres.  The  young  chickens  are  grown  year  after  year 
on  the  nearest  land  not  occupied  by  the  permanent  buildings 
and  yards.  In  most  cases  the  land  is  so  heavily  stocked  with 
them  that  they  secure  almost  nothing  by  foraging. 

The  routine  of  work  on  such  a  farm  is  very  exacting.  The 
fowls  can  do  so  little  for  themselves  and  require  so  much  extra 
care  that  the  poultry  keeper  knows  from  the  start  that  he  cannot 
make  his  business  pay  unless  he  gets  a  very  high  production. 
So  all  his  efforts  are  devoted  to  this  end.  He  uses  labor-saving 
appliances,  carefully  systematizes  his  work,  and  by  great  effort 
often  succeeds  in  making  a  fair  profit  for  a  few  years.  It  is  at 
this  stage  of  his  progress  that  the  poultry  keeper  of  this  class 
does  the  boasting  which  misleads  others.  Then  things  begin  to 
go  wrong  with  his  stock.  His  eggs  do  not  hatch  well,  because 
his  chickens,  while  nominally  on  free  range  on  a  farm,  have 
really  been  no  better  off  than  chickens  reared  under  ordinary 
conditions  in  town.  His  chickens  do  not  thrive,  because  they 
are  weak  and  the  land  is  tainted.  He  himself  is  worn  out  with 
long  hours  of  work  and  no  holidays,  and  if  he  does  not  realize 
his  mistake  and  close  out  the  business  in  time,  it  is  only  a  ques- 
tion of  continuing  until  his  income  and  credit  combined  no 
longer  suffice  to  keep  the  business  going. 

This  in  brief  has  been  the  history  of  all  special  poultry  farms 
where  intensive  methods  were  used,  except  the  duck  farms 
and  the  several  classes  to  be  described  farther  on  in  this  chapter. 
By  no  means  all  succeed  to  even  the  extent  described,  because  a 
great  many  people  who  go  into  the  business  have  so  little  capital 
that  they  have  to  give  up  the  business  before  they  have  been 
able  to  make  it  show  a  profit.  When  the  owners  have  capital,  plants 


112  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

are  sometimes  operated  for  years  at  a  loss,  but  it  is  very  rare 
indeed  that  a  poultry  farm  of  this  kind  (except  in  the  classes  to 
be  described  later)  is  continued  for  more  than  seven  or  eight 
years,  and  few  of  them  last  five  years.  Those  who  wish  to  make 
a  poultry  business  permanent  must  adopt  other  methods. 


BROILER  GROWING 

The  desire  for  what  is  rare  and  costly  is  a  common  trait  in 
human  character.  In  nothing  is  it  more  plainly  displayed  than 
in  the  demand  for  food  products  out  of  their  natural  season. 
An  article  which  in  its  season  of  abundance  is  a  staple  article 
of  diet,  within  the  means  of  all  but  the  very  poorest,  at  its 
season  of  scarcity  becomes  a  luxury  which  only  the  wealthy 
can  afford. 

Before  cold-storage  methods  had  been  brought  to  high  effi- 
ciency, there  was  a  period  in  the  latter  part  of  the  winter  and 
the  early  spring  when  young  chickens  were  very  scarce.  The 
number  that  could  be  hatched  with  hens  to  meet  a  demand  at 
this  season  was  small,  and  those  who  were  hatching  autumn  and 
winter  chickens  by  the  natural  method  found  it  more  profitable 
to  keep  them  to  sell  as  roasters  late  in  the  spring  and  early  in 
the  summer. 

The  "broiler  craze. "  A  little  before  1890,  artificial  incu- 
bators being  then  first  brought  to  a  perfection  which  made  them 
popular,  some  poultry  keepers  began  to  hatch  chickens  in  the 
winter  to  meet  the  demand  for  early  broilers.  Those  who  were 
successful  made  a  very  good  profit  on  what  chickens  they  had 
ready  to  sell  while  the  prices  were  high.  Most  of  them  operated 
in  a  very  small  way,  taking  up  this  work  simply  for  occupation 
when  they  had  nothing  else  to  do.  Many  were  gardeners  who 
had  just  about  enough  slack  time,  after  the  harvest  of  one  year 
was  over,  to  hatch  and  grow  one  lot  of  broilers  before  beginning 
their  regular  spring  work. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS  1 1 3 

These  people  were  not  under  any  delusions  about  the  limita- 
tions on  this  line  of  production.  They  knew  that  the  demand 
for  very  small  chickens  at  very  high  prices  was  limited  and 
easily  satisfied.  But,  as  usual,  the  published  accounts  of  what 
they  were  doing  set  a  great  many  people  to  figuring  the  possi- 
bilities of  profit  from  such  a  business  conducted  on  a  large  scale. 
For  a  few  years  the  broiler  craze  affected  nearly  every  one  in- 
terested in  poultry  keeping.  Thousands  who  never  engaged  in 
it  were  restrained  only  because  of  lack  of  capital  or  inability 
to  adapt  it  to  their  circumstances.  Many  people  who  had  been 
through  several  unsatisfactory  ventures  in  poultry  keeping 
thought  that  they  saw  in  this  the  one  sure  road  to  wealth,  and 
began  to  make  plans  to  grow  broilers  in  large  quantities.  Be- 
sides these  business  ventures  there  were  countless  small  ones, 
sometimes  conducted  under  the  most  unsuitable  conditions. 
People  tried  to  grow  broilers  in  living  rooms,  in  attics,  in  all 
sorts  of  unheated  outbuildings,  and  in  house  cellars  to  which 
the  daylight  hardly  penetrated. 

Present  condition  of  broiler  growing.  The  production  of 
broilers  as  a  specialty  did  not  last  long.  The  improvement  in 
cold-storage  methods  soon  made  it  possible  for  speculators  to 
carry  over  large  quantities  of  summer  chickens,  and  the  poultry 
keepers  in  other  lines  could  easily  arrange  to  produce  all  the 
fresh  broilers  that  could  be  sold  at  a  good  profit. 

ROASTER  GROWING 

Description  of  a  good  roaster.  To  roast  nicely,  a  fowl  must 
be  full-grown  and  well  filled  out,  but  young,  soft-meated,  and 
fat.  A  fowl  is  "ripe"  for  a  choice  roaster  for  only  a  short 
period  after  arriving  at  maturity.  When  a  pullet  has  laid  a 
few  eggs,  her  flesh  becomes  harder  and  is  never  again  as  tender 
and  juicy  as  it  was  before  she  laid  an  egg.  When  the  spurs 
of  a  cockerel  begin  to  harden  and  to  grow  a  long,  sharp  point, 


114  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

and   the  bird  becomes  boisterous  and  quarrelsome,  the  flesh 
becomes  dry  and  tough  and  is  not  fit  for  roasting. 

General  and  special  supplies.  From  July,  when  the  earliest 
farm  chickens  are  large  enough  for  roasting,  until  about  the  first 
of  February,  when  the  last  of  the  late-hatched  farm  chickens 
disappear  from  the  markets,  there  are  nearly  always  enough  very 
good  roasting  chickens  in  the  general  market  receipts  to  supply 
the  demand  for  that  class  and  grade  of  poultry.  Then  for  four  or 
five  months  there  are  no  fresh  roasting  chickens  on  the  market 


FIG.  in.  Massachusetts  soft-roaster  plant 

except  those  grown  especially  for  this  trade.  This  line  of  poul- 
try culture  was  developed  first  near  Philadelphia,  in  southern 
New  Jersey  and  eastern  Pennsylvania,  about  forty  years  ago. 
The  chickens  were  hatched  with  hens  in  the  autumn  and  early 
winter,  each  grower  having  only  a  few  hundred.  They  were 
sold  not  only  in  Philadelphia  but  in  New  York  and  Boston,  and 
in  smaller  Eastern  cities  where  there  was  a  demand  for  them. 
They  were,  and  still  are,  commonly  known  as  Philadelphia 
chickens. 

Large  roaster  plants.  After  incubators  came  into  common 
use,  the  production  of  Philadelphia  chickens  increased,  but  a 
more  remarkable  development  of  that  line  of  production  took 
place  in  Plymouth  County,  Massachusetts,  just  about  the  time 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS 


the  broiler  craze  started.  The  growing  of  winter  chickens  had 
been  carried  on  to  some  extent  in  southern  New  England  in 
the  same  way  as  in  the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia,  but  the  local 
supply  was  small  and  irregular  until  artificial  methods  were 
adopted.  Then,  quite  suddenly,  the  industry  developed  exten- 
sively.in  the  vicinity  of  Norwell,  Hanover,  and  Rockland.  Its 
growth  was  remarkable,  both  because  of  the  number  of  people 
who  were  successful  on  a  comparatively  large  scale,  and  because 
it  attracted  almost  no  attention  outside  of  this  district  until  long 
after  it  had  become  a  well- 
established  local  industry. 

The  methods  of  the 
roaster  growers  in  this  dis- 
trict are  very  intensive,  but 
as  originally  developed  their 
business  was  not  a  continu- 
ous line  of  intensive  poultry 
culture,  nor  is  it  continuous 
now  except  in  some  cases. 
For  many  years  after  the 
business  began,  the  growers  bought  the  eggs  that  they  incubated 
from  farmers  whose  flocks  were  kept  under  good  conditions  and 
were  strong  and  vigorous  ;  but  as  the  numbers  engaged  in  grow- 
ing winter  chickens  increased,  the  supply  of  eggs  from  the  farms 
was  not  sufficient,  and  some  of  the  roaster  growers  began  to  keep 
hens  to  supply  a  part  of  the  eggs  they  used.  Later  some  pro- 
duced all  the  eggs  for  hatching  that  they  needed  for  their  own 
use,  and  a  few  sold  to  others  also.  This,  however,  can  be  done 
only  by  those  having  quite  large  farms.  Some  of  the  most 
successful  growers  have  only  a  few  acres  of  land  and  do  not 
attempt  to  keep  breeding  fowls. 

Hatching  begins  in  August  or  September  and  is  continued 
until  all  the  chickens  that  can  be  handled  are  hatched.  If  the 
eggs  hatch  well  from  the  start,  a  large  grower  may  have  his 


FIG.  112.  Incubator  cellar 


n6 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


houses  full  by  December,  but  usually  it  takes  until  January  to 
complete  hatching,  and  sometimes  it  takes  longer.  The  price 
paid  for  eggs  for  hatching  is  only  a  little  above  the  price  of 

market  eggs,  and  the  buyer 
takes  all  the  risks  of  poor 
hatches.  The  chickens  are 
kept  in  warm  brooder  houses 
as  long  as  they  need  artificial 
heat,  then  they  are  removed 
to  cold  brooder  houses  of  the 
same  type  or  to  colony  houses. 
Those  who  have  land  enough 
use  mostly  colony  houses. 


FIG.  1 13.  House  used  for  growing  roast- 
ing chickens 


While  in  the  heated  brooder 
houses  the  chickens  are  fed 
in  the  regular  way — with  mixed  ground  grains,  either  dry  or 
moistened,  and  small  whole  or  cracked  grains.  After  they  leave 
the  brooder  houses  they  have  cracked  corn,  beef  scrap,  and 
water  always  before  them  ;  for  green  food  they  have  cabbage 
or  the  winter  rye  or  grass  growing  on  the  land. 

As  the  object  of  the  grower  is  to  have  chickens  that  will  grow 
large  and  remain  soft  as  long  as  possible,  the  breeds  used  are 


FIG.  114.    Group  of  houses  like  that  in  Fig.  113 

principally  Light  Brahmas  and  Plymouth  Rocks,  although  when 
eggs  of  these  varieties  cannot  be  obtained  in  sufficient  quantities, 
Wyandottes  are  used.  The  cockerels  are  caponized  when  they 
are  about  two  months  old.  A  capon  does  not  grow  a  comb  or 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS  1 17 

spurs,  nor  does  it  crow.  If  a  perfect  capon,  it  remains  always 
soft-meated  and  may  grow  very  large,  though  it  does  not,  as  is 
commonly  supposed,  grow  larger  than  a  cockerel  within  the  time 
it  is  usually  kept  before  being  killed.  An  imperfect  capon  will 
after  a  time  grow  a  comb  and  short  spurs  and,  though  sterile, 
becomes  harder  in  flesh  than  a  perfect  capon.  An  imperfect 
capon  is  technically  called  a  slip. 

About  the  first  of  March  some  of  the  earliest  pullets  may 
begin  to  lay.  From  that  time  all  the  pullets  that  begin  to  lay, 
and  the  slips  as  they  appear,  are  marketed ;  all  others  are  kept, 
because  the  grower  realizes  the  largest  profit  on  those  that  can 


FIG.  115.  Petaluma  egg  farm.    (Photograph  from  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

be  marketed  in  June  and  July,  when  the  price  is  highest. 
By  the  middle  of  July,  at  the  latest,  everything  is  sold.  The 
poultry  keeper  then  begins  to  prepare  for  the  next  crop  of 
chickens  by  taking  up  all  his  fences,  plowing  land  that  is  not 
in  grass,  and  planting  it  with  winter  rye  or  cabbage  or  some 
late  garden  crop.  Rye  and  cabbage  are  preferred,  because  the 
rye  will  remain  green  all  winter  and  furnish  green  food  for 
chickens  that  have  access  to  it,  and  the  cabbage  makes  the 
best  of  green  food  for  the  little  chickens  in  the  brooder  houses. 
It  is  just  as  good  for  the  others,  too,  but  not  many  of  the 
poultry  keepers  grow  enough  to  continue  feeding  it  to  them 
throughout  the  winter. 


n8 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


While  the  land  on  these  plants  is  heavily  stocked  with  poultry, 
the  birds  are  on  it  only  half  of  the  season,  —  when  vegetation 
grows  freely,  —  and  during  the  remainder  of  the  season  a  great 
deal  of  manure  is  removed  from  the  soil  by  gross-feeding  crops 
like  rye  and  cabbage.  So  the  land  may  be  heavily  stocked  longer- 
than  it  could  be  if  fowls  were  on  it  all  the  time.  The  chickens 
grown  in  this  way  do  not  usually  grow  so  large  as  those  that  are 


FIG.  1 1 6.  Group  of  houses  on  a  Petaluma  egg  farm.   (Photograph  from  Bureau 
of  Animal  Industry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

given  more  room,  but  they  are  grown  at  less  cost  and  are  as  large 
as  the  market  demands.  By  this  method  the  land  will  carry  a 
large  crop  of  chickens  year  after  year  for  many  years,  yet  it  finally 
becomes  so  contaminated  that  chickens  do  not  thrive  on  it. 


INTENSIVE  EGG  FARMING 

Still  another  important  development  due  to  artificial  incuba- 
tion took  place  in  California.  The  climate  of  the  Pacific  Coast 
is  well  suited  to  fowls  of  the  Mediterranean  class,  the  cold  never 
being  severe  enough  to  affect  their  large  combs.  Hence  these 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS  119 

fowls  early  became  very  popular  with  farmers  in  this  section, 
but  as  they  were  non-sitters,  those  who  kept  them  had  to  keep 
hens  of  another  breed  to  hatch  and  rear  the  chickens.  When 
an  incubator  factory  was  established  at  Petaluma,  California,  the 
farmers  in  that  vicinity  began  to  use  incubators,  and  some  small 
egg  farms  grew  up  in  the  town.  White  Leghorns  were  kept 
almost  exclusively.  Before  long  the  egg  industry  here  had 
grown  to  such  proportions  that  it  was  the  most  important  local 
industry,  and  the  district  became  celebrated  as  a  center  of  egg 
production.  Although  the  product  is  different,  and  a  different 
type  of  fowl  is  used,  the  conditions  at  Petaluma  closely  resemble 
those  in  the  roaster-growing  district  of  Massachusetts.  The 
special  egg  farms  are  small,  each  containing  from  five  to  ten 
acres.  The  houses  for  the  laying  hens  are  larger  than  the  colony 
houses  used  in  Rhode  Island,  and  are  arranged  in  groups  of 
three,  each  group  containing  about  five  hundred  hens. 

The  egg  farmers  grow  their  own  pullets  but,  as  a  rule,  do  not 
breed  or  hatch  them.  The  hatching  is  done  by  custom  hatch- 
eries, the  eggs  coming  from  flocks  of  White  Leghorns  on  farms 
that  do  not  specialize  in  poultry  but  keep  a  flock  of  Leghorns 
under  more  favorable  conditions  than  exist  on  the  egg  farms. 
Here,  as  in  the  Massachusetts  district,  the  bad  effects  of  inten- 
sive methods  are  reduced  for  a  time,  because  the  fowls  affected 
by  them  are  not  used  for  reproduction. 

POULTRY  FANCIERS'  FARMS 

A  large  proportion  of  poultry  fanciers  are  city  people  who 
have  very  little  room  for  their  fowls.  Some  have  no  room  at 
all  for  growing  chickens,  although,  by  giving  them  the  best 
of  care,  they  can  keep  a  small  flock  of  adult  birds  in  fair  condi- 
tion. Such  fanciers  have  to  find  farmers  to  grow  chickens  for 
them.  This  is  not  so  easy  as  is  commonly  supposed,  for  the 
farmers  who  are  sufficiently  interested  in  poultry  to  give  them 


120 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


the  care  required  to  make  good  exhibition  birds  usually  want 
to  give  their  own  birds  all  the  time  they  can  spare  for  work 
with  poultry. 

So  it  happens  that,  after  a  few  years'  experience  in  keeping  fine 
fowls  in  close  quarters,  an  amateur  fancier  almost  always  wants 
to  move  to  a  farm  where  he  can  grow  more  and  better  chickens. 
A  small  farm  near  a  city  suits  the  average  fancier  best,  be- 
cause, when  so  situated,  he  can  continue  his  regular  work  and 


Fig.  117.  Yards  of  a  small  poultry  fancier 

look  after  his  poultry  in  leisure  time.  Fanciers  generally  use 
houses  with  many  pens  under  one  roof,  because,  even  when 
they  have  only  one  variety,  the  different  matings  must  be  kept 
separate  during  the  breeding  season,  the  adult  males  must  be 
kept  separate  at  all  times,  and  valuable  hens  cannot  be  kept  in 
large  flocks  except  when  damage  to  plumage  may  be  remedied 
before  they  are  to  be  exhibited  or  sold.  A  fancier  will  keep 
only  five  or  six  birds,  and  sometimes  only  two  or  three,  where 
a  utility  poultry  keeper  would  keep  a  dozen.  If  the  yards  con- 
necting with  the  pens  in  the  houses  are  small,  he  will  arrange 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS 


121 


so  that  each  lot  of  fowls 
may  have  access  to  a  large 
yard  daily  or  on  alternate 
days.  In  every  way  practi- 
cable the  experienced  fan- 
cier arranges  to  give  his 
fowls  all  the  advantages  of 
natural  conditions,  while 
isolating  them  as  com- 
pletely as  is  necessary  to 
keep  each  individual  in 
perfect  condition. 

Poultry  farms  that  were 
started  as  intensive  market- 
poultry  or  egg  farms  are 
sometimes  converted  into 
fancy-poultry  farms.  This 
is  very  likely  to  be  the  case 
if  thoroughbred  stock  is 
used  and  the  owner  be- 
comes skillful  as  a  breeder. 
If  he  can  breed  fowls  of  a 
quality  to  command  high 
prices,  he  may  be  able  to 
produce  enough  of  them 
on  a  small  farm  to  make  a 
very  good  living,  when  it 
would  be  very  much  harder, 
or  perhaps  impossible,  to 
make  the  farm  profitable 
with  ordinary  stock. 

While  farmers  usually 
care  more  for  horses,  cat- 
tle, sheep,  and  hogs,  many 


122 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


become  interested  in  poultry,  and  if  they  are  natural  fanciers  and 
good  business  men,  it  often  happens  that  the  growing  of  fancy 
poultry  becomes  one  of  the  most  important  industries  on  the 


FIG.  119.    Growing  chicks  in  a  fancier's  yard 

farm.  Many  women  on  farms  become  interested  in  fancy  poul- 
try, and  some  become  very  skillful  breeders  and  exhibitors. 
A  farmer-fancier's  poultry  plant  is  usually  a  combination  of 


FIG.  1 20.  Young  stock  in  cornfield  on  a  fancier's  farm 

extensive  and  intensive  methods.  Some  buildings  with  small 
compartments  must  be  provided,  but  all  except  the  choicest 
birds  can  be  managed  just  like  the  ordinary  fowls  on  a  farm 


MANAGEMENT  OF  FOWLS 


123 


where  arrangements  are  made  with  a  view  to  giving  them  the 
full  advantage  of  the  good  conditions  which  the  place  affords. 
To  a  novice  in  fancy-poultry  culture  the  number  of  chickens 
grown  by  expert  fanciers  seems  very  small  for  the  equipment 
and  the  land  used,  but  the  old  fancier  has  learned  in  the  costly 
school  of  competition,  by  the  bitter  experience  of  defeat,  that 


FIG.  121.   Summer  quarters  for  poultry.    (Photograph  from  New  York  State 
Agricultural  College  at  Cornell  University) 

in  growing  exhibition  poultry  it  pays  to  give  the  birds  a  great 
deal  more  room,  both  indoors  and  outdoors,  than  is  needed 
simply  to  get  quick  growth  and  good  size.  Elegance  of  form, 
depth  and  brilliance  of  color,  and  the  indefinable  qualities  of 
style  and  finish  that  distinguish  the  high-class  exhibition  fowl 
are  obtained  in  a  much  larger  proportion  of  birds  when  they 
are  given  a  great  deal  more  room  than  they  apparently  need. 


CHAPTER  VI 

DUCKS 

Ducks  rank  next  to  fowls  in  economic  importance.  If  there 
were  no  fowls,  domestic  ducks  would  probably  be  as  numerous 
as  fowls  are  now,  for  it  is  much  easier  to  produce  eggs  and  meat 
from  ducks  than  from  any  known  species  of  gallinaceous  bird 
except  the  fowl.  To  most  people  who  are  not  accustomed  to 
eating  them,  neither  the  flesh  nor  the  eggs  of  ducks  seem  quite 
as  palatable  as  the  flesh  and  eggs  of  fowls.  On  the  other  hand, 
people  accustomed  to  eating  fat  ducks  and  the  eggs  of  ducks, 
which  contain  a  much  higher  percentage  of  fat  than  hens'  eggs, 
often  consider  the  flesh  and  eggs  of  fowls  rather  insipid.  The 
feathers  of  ducks  are  more  valuable  commercially  than  those 
of  fowls  but  are  not  correspondingly  profitable  to  the  producer, 
because  ducks  are  much  harder  to  pluck. 

Description.  Common  ducks  are  about  the  same  size  as 
common  fowls.  The  improved  breeds  vary  greatly  in  size  but 
do  not  present  such  extremes  of  size  and  diversity  of  form 
as  are  found  in  the  races  of  fowls.  As  the  duck  in  a  state  of 
nature  lives  much  upon  the  water,  its  form  is  at  nearly  every 
point  different  from  the  typical  form  of  the  fowl.  The  duck  is 
usually  described  as  boat-shaped,  but,  while  this  is  a  good  de- 
scription, it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  that  a  boat  is  duck- 
shaped.  The  duck  was  the  natural  model  for  the  first  builders 
of  boats. 

The  bills  of  ducks  are  large,  rather  flat,  and  broad  at  the  tip. 
The  species  to  which  most  of  our  domestic  ducks  belong  has 
no  head  ornaments  corresponding  to  the  comb  and  wattles  of 
the  fowl.  There  is  one  variety  of  this  species  which  has  a 

124 


DUCKS  125 

topknot,  or  crest.  The  Muscovy  Duck,  which  is  of  a  different 
species,  has  a  bare  face  with  a  carunculated  red  skin.  The 
plumage  of  ducks  is  very  soft  and  dense,  forming  a  thick  cover- 
ing which,  when  the  feathers  are  in  a  natural  position,  is  im- 
penetrable to  water  and  so  perfect  a  protection  from  wind  and 
cold  that  hardy  ducks  are  quite  indifferent  to  keen  winds  and 
low  temperatures,  and,  if  left  to  themselves,  rarely  seek  shelter 
in  winter.  During  a  heavy  snowfall  they  will  get  under  cover 
to  escape  being  buried  in  the  snow.  At  other  times  they  seem 
quite  as  comfortable  on  snow  and  ice  as  on  the  ground.  One  of 
the  most  interesting  sights  of  the  poultry  yard  is  to  see  a  duck 
sit  down  on  the  snow  or  ice  when  the  temperature  is  below  zero, 
draw  up  its  feet  and  work  them  into  the  feathers  at  the  side  of 
its  body  until  they  are  completely  covered,  tuck  its  bill  into  the 
feathers  of  its  back  until  only  the  nostrils  and  a  little  of  the  base 
of  the  bill  are  exposed,  and  remain  this  way  through  the  coldest 
nights  rather  than  go  a  few  feet  to  a  comfortable  house  with 
warm  bedding  on  the  floor.  Being  better  adapted  to  cold  than 
fowls,  they  are,  as  would  be  expected,  much  more  susceptible 
to  heat  and  suffer  greatly  in  hot  summer  weather  if  exposed  to 
the  sun  or  kept  where  there  is  not  a  good  circulation  of  air. 

The  tails  of  ducks  are  short,  spread  laterally,  and  are  usually 
folded  close  and  carried  with  the  tip  a  little  higher  than  the 
base.  The  legs  are  very  short,  comparatively  slender,  and 
weak.  Most  ducks  walk  awkwardly  and  fall  down  and  flounder 
about  helplessly  when  they  try  to  run.  The  legs  of  a  duck  are 
so  weak  that  it  is  not  safe  to  catch  or  handle  them  by  the 
legs,  as  fowls  are  usually  caught  and  handled.  It  is  very  easy  to 
break  or  dislocate  the  leg  of  a  duck  in  this  way.  Hence,  the  usual 
method  is  to  catch  and  carry  them  by  the  neck,  which  is  very 
strong.  Most  persons  who  are  not  used  to  handling  ducks  are 
afraid  of  choking  them  by  grasping  the  neck  firmly,  but  there  is 
very  little  danger  of  this.  The  feet  of  a  duck  are  webbed  be- 
tween the  forward  toes,  which  makes  them  more  serviceable  as 


126  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

paddles  in  swimming.  They  are  not  suited  to  perching.  There 
is  a  wild  tree  duck,  and  it  is  said  that  the  domestic  Muscovy  Duck 
sometimes  alights  in  trees  or  on  objects  above  the  ground,  but 
the  familiar  kinds  of  ducks  rest  only  on  the  surface  of  the  land 
or  on  the  water. 

Although  the  males  average  a  little  larger,  the  male  and  female 
of  the  same  stock  are  usually  nearer  the  same  size  than  in  gal- 
linaceous birds.  The  only  marks  by  which  sex  can  be  distin- 
guished in  all  ducks  are  the  voice  and  the  presence  or  absence 
of  the  small  curled  feathers  on  the  tail  which  characterize  the 
males.  In  party-colored  varieties  the  color  markings  of  the  male 
and  female  are  sometimes  different.  The  "  quack  "  of  the  duck 
is  the  note  of  the  female  ;  the  male  makes  a  very  subdued 
similar  sound,  comparing  with  it  as  a  hoarse  whisper  compares 
with  the  natural  tones  of  the  human  voice. 

The  duck  derives  its  English  name  from  its  habit  of  ducking 
its  head  into  the  water  in  search  of  food  at  the  bottom  of  the 
shallow  waters,  which  it  prefers.  The  term  "  duck  "  is  applied 
to  males  and  females  collectively,  and  also  to  the  female  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  male.  The  male  is  called  a  drake.  The 
name  "  drake  "  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from  an  Old  German 
word  meaning  "  the  chief  duck."  Any  one  who  is  familiar  with 
the  habits  of  ducks  will  see  at  once  the  appropriateness  of  the 
term.  Ducks  often  march  in  single  file,  and  when  they  do  so, 
all  the  drakes  in  a  group  go  first,  the  ducks  following  them, 
usually  with  a  little  space  between.  So  if  there  is  only  one  male, 
he  marches  a  little  ahead  of  his  flock,  like  a  commander.  Young 
ducks  are  called  ducklings,  the  name  being  applied  to  both  sexes. 
In  our  language  there  are  no  special  terms  applying  to  a  young 
duck  and  a  young  drake  as  distinguished  from  adult  birds. 

Origin.  Useful  domestic  ducks  are  of  two  species.  All  the 
breeds  of  this  class,  except  the  Muscovy  Duck,  are  derived  from 
the  wild  Mallard  Duck,  specimens  of  which  are  still  frequently 
captured  and  domesticated.  The  Mallard  takes  very  readily  to 


DUCKS 


127 


domestication.  Although  in  the  wild  state  it  is  a  migratory  bird, 
in  domestication  it  soon  becomes  too  heavy  to  fly  far.  After  a 
few  generations  in  domestication  it  becomes  as  large  as  com- 
mon domestic  stock,  loses  its  power  of  flight,  and  cannot  be  dis- 
tinguished from  stock  that  has  been  domesticated  for  centuries. 
Mallard  Ducks  captured  in  the  wild  state  and  kept  in  captivity 
have  been  known  to  lay  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  eggs  in  a 
season,  which  is  as  many  as  the  average  domestic  duck  lays. 

When  ducks  were  first  domesticated  is  not  known.  The  figure 
of  a  duck  was  used  in  the  earliest  Egyptian  hieroglyphics.    As 


FIG.  122.  Domesticated  Mallard  Ducks,  Brook  View  Farm, 
Newbury,  Massachusetts 

the  Mallard  is  widely  distributed  and  so  easily  tamed,  and  as 
domestic  ducks  of  the  same  type  (but  apparently  not  related  in 
domestication)  are  found  in  widely  separated  parts  of  the  earth, 
it  is  plain  that  the  distribution  of  domestic  ducks  has  been  less 
dependent  upon  the  movements  of  the  human  race  than  the 
distribution  of  the  fowl.  Wherever  at  any  time  in  the  history  of 
the  world  male  and  female  wild  Mallards  happened  to  be  caught 
and  kept  in  captivity,  a  domestic  race  might  be  developed.  A 
missionary  who  went  to  Africa  in  1885  and  worked  among  the 
Bakubas  —  a  people  more  than  a  thousand  miles  from  the  west 
coast  of  the  continent  —  reported  that  he  found  there  such  little 
mongrel  fowls  as  are  common  elsewhere  in  Africa,  and  a  local 


128  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

race  of  domestic  ducks  varied  in  color  as  are  the  common  ducks 
of  Europe  and  America,  but  as  large  as  the  Rouen  and  Pekin 
ducks.  The  Bakubas  had  had  so  little  intercourse  with  civilized 
peoples  that  it  was  not  at  all  likely  that  an  improved  race  of 
ducks  had  been  introduced  from  the  outside  world,  and  whatever 
possibility  of  that  might  be  supposed  to  exist,  the  fact  that  the 
ducks  of  this  country,  like  the  domestic  quadrupeds,  were  dumb 
indicates  that  they  are  a  distinct  and  very  old  domestic  race. 


FIG.  123.  Colored  Muscovy  Ducks.    (Photograph  by  E.  J.  Hall) 

It  is  worth  noting  in  this  connection  that  the  missionary, 
Dr.  William  H.  Sheppard,  found  it  the  accepted  opinion  among 
this  savage  people  that,  by  a  process  of  natural  selection,  the 
character  of  dumbness  had  been  acquired  by  the  domestic 
animals,  to  which  it  gave  a  measure  of  protection  from  wild 
enemies  in  the  forest  around  them.  It  seems  wonderful  that 
the  theory  of  evolution  was  found  out  by  such  people  before 
it  was  developed  by  modern  scientists. 


DUCKS  129 

The  common  duck.  Like  the  ordinary  mongrel  fowl,  the  com- 
mon duck  (sometimes  called  the  puddle  duck,  because,  when  it 
cannot  find  water  elsewhere,  it  appears  to  be  perfectly  satisfied 
with  the  filthiest  puddles)  is  much  the  same  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  and  is  a  very  inferior  bird  in  comparison  with  ducks  of  the 
improved  races.  Common  ducks  are  usually  very  slow  growers 
and  weigh  at  maturity  from  three  to  four  pounds  each.  As  a 
rule  they  are  very  indifferent  layers,  laying  only  in  the  spring. 
They  are  of  various  colors. 

Improved  races.  Nearly  all  our  improved  races  of  ducks  are 
of  foreign  origin.  At  the  poultry  exhibition  at  Boston  in  1849 
the  only  kinds  exhibited  were  the  Aylesbury,  the  Muscovy,  and 
the  ornamental  Wood  ducks. 

The  Aylesbury  Duck  is  a  large  white  duck  developed  as  a 
local  variety  in  the  vale  of  Aylesbury,  in  England.  It  has  a 
flesh-colored  bill,  and  legs  of  a  pale  orange  color.  Although  the 
favorite  market  duck  in  England,  and  early  known  in  America, 
it  never  became  a  favorite  here. 

The  Muscovy  Duck  is,  as  has  been  stated,  of  a  different  species 
from  our  other  useful  breeds.  It  is  a  native  of  South  America 
and  is  supposed  to  have  been  taken  to  Europe  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  It  was  probably  brought  to  North  America  from  Europe 
less  than  a  hundred  years  ago.  It  differs  from  ducks  of  Mallard 
origin  in  several  other  particulars  besides  the  naked  head  with 
its  bright-red,  carunculated  skin.  The  male  is  very  much 
larger  than  the  female.  The  tail  is  longer  and  more  depressed. 
There  is  an  entire  absence  of  red  pigment  in  the  plumage.  The 
natural  color  is  black  and  white,  unevenly  distributed.  This  va- 
riety is  called  the  Colored  Muscovy  Duck.  Many  specimens  are 
nearly  black.  The  White  Muscovy  Duck  is  an  albino  variety. 
By  crossing  these  two  varieties  a  blue  variety  is  sometimes 
obtained,  but,  although  Blue  Muscovy  Ducks  have  been  made 
at  various  times,  fanciers  have  never  taken  enough  interest  in 
them  to  encourage  the  originators  to  continue  their  breeding. 


130 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


The  Rouen  Duck  takes  its  name  from  the  town  of  Rouen,  in 
the  north  of  France,  though  the  type  seems  to  have  been  common 
over  quite  a  large  area  and  not  peculiar  to  the  vicinity  of  that 
town.  It  is  like  the  Mallard  in  color,  and  is  just  such  a  duck  as 
by  good  care  and  selection  for  size  might  be  developed  at  any 
time  from  common  ducks  of  that  color.  Rouen  Ducks  are  said 


FIG.  124.  Rouen  Ducks,  Brook  View  Farm,  Newbury,  Massachusetts 

to  have  been  well  known  in  the  south  of  England  early  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  When  they  were  brought  to  this  country  is 
not  known.  Although  for  a  long  time  they  have  been  familiar 
to  those  who  attend  poultry  shows,  and  have  been  widely  distrib- 
uted in  small  numbers,  they  have  never  been  extensively  bred 
because  the  Rouen,  having  dark  plumage,  is  not  desirable  for 
the  production  of  young  ducks  for  market.  When  mature  it 
dresses  clean  and  the  quality  of  its  flesh  is  unsurpassed. 


DUCKS  131 

The  Cayuga  Duck  is  an  improved  black  duck  developed  about 
the  middle  of  the  last  century  in  Cayuga  County,  New  York. 
Some  early  accounts  of  its  origin  stated  that  it  was  a  domesti- 
cated wild  black  duck,  but  it  is  much  more  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  it  was  developed  by  selection  from  black  and  nearly  black 
common  ducks. 

The  White  Pekin  Duck  is  a  Chinese  breed  closely  resembling 
the  Aylesbury  Duck  of  England.  It  has  an  orange-yellow  bill 


FIG.  125.  Flock  of  Pekin  Ducks 

and  legs.  No  large  ducks  of  other  colors  than  white  have  ever 
been  brought  to  this  country  or  to  Europe  from  China.  As  far 
as  is  known,  the  importations  from  China  to  England  and  the 
United  States  consisted  of  only  a  few  birds  and  were  made  about 
1872—1875.  Information  about  these  is  not  very  definite.  The 
most  commonly  accepted  version  is  that  they  were  brought  to 
England  in  1874  and  to  the  United  States  from  England  in  the 
following  year,  but  some  accounts  say  that  both  England  and 
America  received  them  direct  in  1873,  and  one  account  places 


132 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


the  first  importation  to  England  in  1872.  The  exact  truth  is  not 
of  importance  in  such  a  matter,  but  those  who  are  interested  in 
the  remarkable  developments  in  duck  culture  which  followed 
the  arrival  of  this  breed  in  the  Western  World  naturally  wish 
to  know  the  facts.  All  accounts  agree  that  there  were  only  a 
few  ducks  brought  from  China.  In  England  the  Pekin  became 
quite  popular  at  once.  It  was  hardier  and  more  prolific  than  the 
Aylesbury,  and  was  used  largely  in  outcrosses,  to  give  vigor  to 

Aylesbury  stock.  In  America 
it  became  immensely  popular 
in  a  few  years.  It  was  found 
to  be  remarkably  well  adapted 
to  intensive  methods  of  poul- 
try keeping,  and  large  duck 
farms  were  built  up ;  some  of 
these  made  very  large  profits 
for  long  periods  of  years. 

The  Indian  Runner  Duck 
is  a  small,  active  duck  which 
originated  long  ago  as  the 
common  duck  on  the  meadows 
of  certain  marshy  districts  in 
the  Netherlands.  The  peas- 
ants of  these  districts  com- 
pelled their  ducks  to  forage 

for  their  food,  and  so  developed  ducks  with  a  more  upright  car- 
riage and  stronger  legs  than  the  other  races.  In  the  Netherlands 
these  ducks  are  of  all  colors. 

Ducks  of  this  type,  in  color  white  with  fawn-colored  markings, 
were  introduced  to  poultry  fanciers  in  England  in  1893  or  1894 
as  Indian  Runner  Ducks.  It  was  said  that  they  had  been  first 
brought  from  India  to  Cumberland  fifty  or  sixty  years  before, 
and  that  ever  since  that  time  they  had  been  bred  pure  by  a  few 
breeders  and  more  or  less  mixed  with  the  common  stock  of  that 


FIG.  126.  Indian  Runner  Ducks.    (Pho- 
tograph from  owner,  Clayton   Ballard, 
White  Pine,  Tennessee) 


DUCKS  133 

section  by  many  others.  The  story  of  their  history  in  England  is 
much  more  plausible  than  that  of  their  origin  in  India.  When 
the  breed  was  shown  on  the  Continent  of  Europe  it  was  at 
once  recognized  by  fanciers  there  as  an  improved  variety  of  a 
common  duck. 

Compared  with  other  ducks  the  Indian  Runner  is  a  remark- 
able layer,  but  it  does  not,  as  many  admirers  of  the  breed  claim, 


FIG.  127.  Flock  of  White  Indian  Runner  Ducks.    (Photograph  from  Bureau 
of  Animal  Industry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

surpass  fowls  in  egg  production,  and  the  market  for  duck  eggs 
is  so  limited  that  it  is  easily  overstocked. 

Blue  Swedish  Ducks  and  Buff  Orpington  Ducks  are  simply 
color  varieties  of  an  improved  type  of  the  common  duck.  There 
are  several  other  quite  well-marked  varieties  in  Europe  that  have 
not  been  seen  in  this  country. 

Ornamental  ducks.  The  ornamental  ducks  of  the  same  species 
as  the  common  duck,  and  derived  either  from  common  ducks  or 
directly  from  the  Mallard,  are  the  East  India  Duck,  the  Black, 
White,  and  Gray  Call  Ducks,  and  the  Crested  White  Duck. 


134 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


The  Call  Ducks  are  so  named  because  their  persistent  quacking 
makes  them  valuable  for  calling  wild  ducks  within  range  of  the 
guns  of  hunters,  and  they  are  much  used  as  decoys.  They  are 
very  small  and  were  produced  by  dwarfing  common  ducks.  The 
name  "  gray,"  to  describe  the  colored  variety,  is  misleading.  The 
color  is  like  that  of  the  Mallard  but  of  a  lighter  shade.  Some 
Mallards  are  quite  as  gray  as  the  average  Gray  Call  Duck.  The 
Black  East  India  Duck  is  a  dwarf  black  duck  differing  so  little 


FIG.  128.  Blue  Orpington  Ducks.    (Photograph  from  owner,  Sunswick  Farm, 
Plainfield,  New  Jersey) 

from  the  Call  Ducks  as  to  leave  no  doubt,  in  the  mind  of  any 
one  acquainted  with  the  mysteries  of  making  and  naming  breeds 
of  poultry,  that,  like  the  Call  Ducks,  it  is  of  European  origin. 
There  are  many  ornamental  ducks  of  other  species,  the  most 
interesting  of  which  are  the  brilliantly  colored  Wood  Duck 
(sometimes  called  the  Carolina  Duck)  and  the  Mandarin  Duck, 
which,  besides  being  gorgeously  colored,  has  a  peculiar  crest  and 
has  some  of  the  feathers  on  its  wings  oddly  curved  and  spread, 
giving  it  a  singular  appearance.  Specimens  of  these  ducks  are 


DUCKS 


135 


almost  always  to  be  seen  in  a  collection  of  fancy  waterfowl.  The 
Wood  Duck  is  a  native  of  North  America,  the  Mandarin  Duck 
of  Northern  China. 

Place  of  ducks  in  domestication.  It  has  been  stated  that  if 
there  were  no  fowls,  the  duck  would  make  the  best  substitute, 
but  as  we  have  fowls  in  great  variety,  and  as  they  suit  us  better 
than  ducks  for  nearly  every  purpose  for  which  either  might  be 
used,  ducks  are  not  often  kept  in  place  of  fowls.  Small  flocks 
of  ducks  are  kept  in  addition  to  a  flock  of  fowls,  both  on  farms 
and  by  town  poultry  keepers,  either  because  the  owner  likes  to 
have  them  about  or  to  add  to  the  variety  of  poultry  meat  for 
home  consumption. 
The  flocks  of  ducks 
so  kept  are  of  com- 
paratively little  eco- 
nomic importance. 
The  ratio  of  ducks 
to  fowls  is  only 
about  one  to  fifty, 
and  the  ratio  of  val- 
ues of  the  products 
of  these  two  kinds 
of  poultry  is  probably  nearer  one  to  one  hundred.  But  when 
poultry  keeping  is  made  a  special  business,  duck  growing  gives 
the  surest  and  the  largest  profits,  because  ducks  can  be  grown 
in  large  numbers  more  easily  than  any  other  domestic  animal. 
The  largest  permanently  successful  poultry  farms  in  the  world 
are  the  great  duck  farms  of  the  United  States. 

To  the  fancier,  ducks  are  decidedly  less  interesting  than 
fowls,  not  only  because,  as  has  already  been  stated,  they  present 
fewer  superficial  characters  upon  which  he  can  exercise  his  art, 
but  because  they  are,  on  the  whole,  less  intelligent  and  less  ca- 
pable of  developing  confidence  in  one  who  handles  them.  Fowls 
are  much  easier  to  handle  in  the  way  the  fancier  must  often 


FIG.  129.  Black  and  White  Call  Ducks,  Brook  View 
Farm,  Newbury,  Massachusetts 


136  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

handle  his  birds  for  thorough  examination.  As  a  rule,  a  fowl 
quickly  learns  that  it  is  not  going  to  be  hurt,  and  the  more  it  is 
handled  the  tamer  it  becomes.  Young  ducks  are  almost  stupidly 
fearless  of  the  person  who  feeds  them,  as  long  as  he  goes  among 
them  without  touching  them,  but  after  he  catches  them  they  are 
as  stupidly  shy.  It  takes  very  much  more  patience  to  handle 
ducks  as  a  fancier  handles  birds  than  the  average  human  being 
possesses,  and  so  very  few  people  find  them  satisfactory  for 
pets  after  they  cease  to  be  a  novelty. 

Perhaps  if  the  interest  in  the  breeding  of  ducks  for  exhibition 
were  greater,  stocks  of  ducks  that  were  free  from  this  timidity 
could  gradually  be  developed.  Individual  birds  are  often  found 
which  are  not  at  all  shy  ;  and,  as  a  rule,  persistent  selection  for 
any  quality  will  eventually  make  it  a  race  characteristic. 


CHAPTER  VII 

MANAGEMENT  OF  DUCKS 

Although  ducks  delight  in  the  water  and,  when  they  have  an 
opportunity  to  do  so,  spend  a  considerable  part  of  the  time  in  it, 
they  are  often  kept  very  successfully  where  they  have  no  water 
except  for  drinking.  Some  duck  breeders,  who  have  kept  their 
ducks  for  many  generations  without  water  in  which  they  could 
swim,  have  said  that  the  ducks  lost  all  desire  to  swim,  and  that 
birds  of  such  stock  would  not  go  into  the  water  even  when  they 
had  the  opportunity  to  do  so.  This  statement  greatly  exagger- 
ates the  facts.  Any  young  duck,  no  matter  how  the  stock  from 
which  it  came  has  been  kept,  will  take  to  the  water  as  soon  as 
it  can  run  about  if  it  is  given  access  to  water  at  that  time ;  but  if 
young  ducks  are  kept  away  from  the  water  until  they  are  several 
weeks  old,  and  then  given  access  to  water  in  which  they  can 
swim,  they  are  often  as  much  afraid  of  the  water  as  they  would 
be  of  any  object  to  which  they  were  not  accustomed.  If  they 
remain  near  the  water,  however,  it  will  not  be  long  before  they 
follow  their  natural  instinct  to  get  into  it.  Having  once  entered 
the  water,  they  are  immediately  as  much  at  home  there  as  if 
they  had  always  known  the  pleasures  of  life  in  that  element. 

As  comparatively  few  people  keep  ducks,  and  specialization 
in  duck  culture  is  mostly  in  the  line  of  producing  young  ducks 
for  market,  on  a  large  scale,  there  is  not  as  much  variety  in 
methods  of  managing  ducks  as  in  methods  of  managing  fowls. 
If  ducks  are  expected  to  do  the  best  of  which  they  are  capable, 
they  must  be  given  a  great  deal  of  attention.  While  no  bird 
will  endure  more  neglect  without  appearing  to  suffer,  there  is 
none  that  will  respond  to  good  care  more  generously. 

137 


138  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

SMALL  FLOCKS  ON  TOWN  LOTS 

Numbers.  The  small  flock  of  ducks  on  a  town  lot  is  usually 
a  very  small  flock,  kept  more  from  curiosity  and  for  a  little 
variety  in  poultry  keeping  than  with  any  definite  purpose.  Most 
of  such  little  flocks  are  composed  of  a  drake  and  from  one  to 
five  ducks.  Where  a  larger  flock  is  kept  for  the  eggs  they  pro- 
duce, the  number  rarely  exceeds  fifteen  or  twenty.  Many  town 
people  who  want  to  grow  only  a  few  ducks  each  year  prefer  not 
to  keep  any  adult  stock,  but  to  buy  a  few  eggs  for  hatching 
when  they  want  them. 

Houses  and  yards.  Ducks  require  about  the  same  amounts  of 
house  and  yard  room  per  bird  as  fowls.  While  they  will  stand 
crowding  better  than  any  other  kind  of  poultry,  they  appreciate 
an  abundance  of  room  and  good  conditions,  and  are  more  thrifty 
when  they  are  not  overcrowded.  Where  they  can  be  allowed  to 
remain  outdoors  at  night,  they  really  need  no  shelter  but  a  shed 
large  enough  to  give  them  shade  from  the  sun  on  hot  days  and 
protection  from  hard,  driving  storms.  On  most  town  lots,  how- 
ever, it  is  advisable  to  have  them  indoors  at  night  for  protection 
from  dogs  and  thieves.  Also,  the  amount  of  roughing  that  they 
like,  while  not  at  all  detrimental  to  them,  is  not  conducive  to 
early  laying.  So  most  duck  keepers  prefer  to  have  the  ducks 
housed  at  night  and  in  severe  weather,  and  give  them  approxi- 
mately the  same  space  that  would  be  given  to  an  equal  number 
of  fowls. 

The  floor  of  the  house  should  be  littered  with  straw,  hay,  or 
shavings.  The  object  of  littering  the  floors  of  duck  houses  is  not 
to  afford  them  exercise,  but  to  provide  them  with  dry  bedding. 
The  droppings  of  ducks  are  very  watery,  and  the  bedding  must 
be  changed  often  enough  to  keep  the  ducks  clean.  It  is  custom- 
ary to  provide  shallow  nest  boxes,  placing  them  on  the  floor 
next  the  wall,  preferably  in  a  corner.  The  ducks  are  quite  as 
likely  to  leave  their  eggs  anywhere  on  the  floor,  or  out  in  the 


MANAGEMENT  OF  DUCKS  139 

yard  (if  they  are  let  out  before  they  lay),  but  the  nests  are  there 
if  they  want  them,  and  many  will  use  the  nests  regularly. 

The  only  other  furnishings  needed  are  a  feed  trough  and  a 
drinking  vessel,  but  it  is  advisable  to  have  a  tub  or  a  pan  in  which 
the  birds  can  take  a  bath,  and  to  supply  them  with  water  in  this 
once  or  twice  a  week.  The  drinking  vessel  must  be  one  that 
they  cannot  get  into,  for  if  they  can  get  into  it  they  will  certainly 
do  so.  An  ordinary  wooden  water  pail,  or  a  small  butter  tub  with 
the  part  above  the  upper  hoop  sawed  off,  makes  a  very  satis- 
factory drinking  vessel  for  adult  ducks.  It  will  hold  enough 
water  for  the  ducks  to  partially  wash  themselves,  which  they  do 
by  dipping  their  heads  in  the  water  and  then  rubbing  them  on 
their  bodies  and  wings.  For  the  regular  bath  for  two  or  three 
ducks  one  of  the  largest-sized  bath  pans  made  for  pigeons 
will  do  very  well,  or  an  old  washtub  cut  down  to  six  or  eight 
inches  deep  may  be  used.  For  a  flock  of  eight  or  ten  ducks  a 
good  tub  may  be  made  from  one  end  of  a  molasses  hogshead. 
The  bath  should  always  be  given  outdoors,  because  it  takes  the 
ducks  only  a  few  minutes  to  splash  so  much  water  out  of  the  tub 
that  everything  around  it  is  thoroughly  wet.  The  drinking  water 
should  also  be  given  outdoors  whenever  the  houses  are  open. 

As  the  ducks  of  the  breeds  usually  kept  can  hardly  fly  at  all, 
very  low  partitions  and  fences  will  keep  them  in  their  quarters, 
but  to  keep  other  poultry  or  animals  out  of  their  yards  it  may  be 
necessary  to  build  higher  fences.  For  the  heavier  breeds,  like 
the  Pekin  and  Rouen,  fences  are  usually  made  from  1 8  inches  to 
24  inches  high.  The  ducks  will  rarely  attempt  to  go  over  these, 
but  occasionally  a  drake  learns  to  climb  a  two-foot  fence  by  using 
his  bill,  wings,  and  toes,  and  may  then  manage  to  get  over  a 
higher  fence.  For  the  small,  light  breeds,  fences  3  or  4  feet  high 
may  be  needed.  If  their  yard  is  on  a  slope  and  is  large  enough  to 
give  them  a  chance  to  start  a  flight  high  up  on  the  slope,  so  that 
they  will  rise  above  the  fence  at  the  lower  side,  it  may  be  necessary 
either  to  put  a  very  high  fence  on  that  side  or  to  cover  the  yard. 


140 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


While  the  fence  for  ducks  need  not  be  either  high  or  strong, 
there  must  be  no  holes  in  it  that  a  duck,  having  put  its  head 
through,  could  by  pressure  enlarge  enough  to  let  its  body  pass. 
A  piece  of  wire  netting  that  has  begun  to  rust  a  little  may  be  as 
good  as  ever  for  fowls  for  a  long  time,  but  if  used  for  a  duck 
fence  it  will  be  most  unsatisfactory,  because  the  ducks  will  soon 
make  many  holes  in  it.  If  wire  netting  alone  is  used,  it  should 
be  fastened  to  the  ground  with  pegs  every  three  or  four  feet. 

Feeding.  The  feeding  of  ducks  differs  from  the  feeding  of 
hens  in  that  ducks  need  mostly  soft  food,  and  that,  if  the  keeper 

wishes  to  force  growth  or  egg 
production,  they  may  be  fed 
much  larger  proportions  of  such 
concentrated  foods  as  beef  scraps 
and  meat  meals.  As  has  been 
stated,  in  its  natural  state  the 
duck  gets  the  greater  part  of  its 
food  from  the  water.  This  is  all 
soft  food,  and  the  bird  swallows 
a  great  deal  of  water  with  it.  It 
does  not,  therefore,  need  a  large 
crop  in  which  to  soak  its  food 
before  it  passes  into  the  gizzard. 
So  the  crop  of  the  duck  is  small  —  merely  an  enlargement  of 
the  gullet.  Some  of  the  old  books  on  poultry  say  that  the  duck 
has  no  crop,  but  you  can  see  by  looking  at  a  duck  that  has  just 
had  a  full  meal  that  the  food  it  has  taken  remains  in  the  passage, 
sometimes  filling  it  right  up  to  the  throat. 

With  a  mash  (just  the  same  as  is  given  to  hens)  morning  and 
evening,  a  cabbage  to  pick  at,  plenty  of  drinking  water,  and  a 
supply  of  oyster  shell  always  before  them,  ducks  will  do  very 
well.  If  they  have  no  cabbage,  about  one  third  (by  bulk)  of 
the  mash  should  be  cut  clover  or  alfalfa.  When  the  days  are 
long,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  give  them  a  little  cracked  corn  or  whole 


FIG.  130.  Pekin  duckling  six 
weeks  old 


MANAGEMENT  OF  DUCKS 


141 


wheat  about  noon.  The  water  supply  should  always  be  replen- 
ished just  before  feeding,  for  as  soon  as  a  duck  has  taken  a  few 
mouthfuls  of  food  of  any  kind,  it  wants  a  drink  of  water. 

Laying  habits.  With  the  exception  of  the  ducks  of  the 
Indian  Runner  type,  which  lay  some  eggs  at  other  seasons,  as 
hens  do,  ducks  usually  lay  very  persistently  for  about  six  months, 
and  then  stop  entirely  for  about  six  months.  Occasionally  ducks 
of  other  breeds  lay  a  few  eggs  in  the  autumn,  but  this  trait  has 
not  been  developed 
in  them  as  it  has  in 
the  Indian  Runner. 
If  they  are  com- 
fortably housed  and 
well  fed,  Pekin  and 
Rouen  Ducks  usu- 
ally begin  to  lay  in 
January.  If  they  are 
allowed  to  expose 
themselves  to  rough 
weather,  and  are  fed 
indifferently,  they 
may  not  begin  to 
lay  until  March  or 
April.  When  they 
do  begin,  they  usu- 
ally lay  much  more  steadily  than  hens  until  hot  weather  comes, 
and  then  gradually  decrease  their  production  until  by  midsummer 
they  have  stopped  altogether. 

The  eggs  are  usually  laid  very  early  in  the  morning.  Ducks 
often  lay  before  daylight  and  almost  always  lay  before  eight 
o'clock.  When  a  duck  lays  in  a  nest,  she  is  very  likely  to  cover  the 
egg  with  the  nest  material  when  she  leaves  it.  A  duck  will  often 
make  a  nest  and  remain  on  it  an  hour  or  more  and  then  go  and 
drop  her  egg  somewhere  else  and  pay  no  further  attention  to  it. 


FIG.  131.   Pekin  drake  four  months  old,  weighing 
nine  pounds 


142  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

Growing  ducklings.  For  a  poultry  keeper  who  has  only  a 
little  room  it  is  much  easier  to  grow  a  few  ducks  than  to  grow 
an  equal  number  of  chickens.  There  are  two  reasons  for  this : 
One  is  that  the  ducklings  stand  close  confinement  better  and 
are  not  so  sensitive  to  unsanitary  conditions ;  the  other  is  that 
ducks  of  the  improved  breeds  grow  much  more  quickly  than 
chickens  and  are  grown  up  before  the  novelty  of  caring  for  them 
wears  off  and  the  keeper  tires  of  giving  the  close  attention  that 
young  poultry  need  when  grown  under  such  conditions. 

The  ducks  of  the  improved  breeds  are  mostly  non-sitters. 
Unless  one  has  common  ducks,  Muscovy  Ducks,  Rouen  Ducks 
with  some  wild  Mallard  blood,  or  Mallards  not  long  domesticated, 
he  is  not  likely  to  have  a  duck  "  go  broody,"  and  so  small  lots 
of  duck  eggs  are  usually  hatched  under  hens.  As  duck  eggs  are 
larger  than  hen  eggs,  a  smaller  number  is  given  to  the  hen. 
Eleven  medium-sized  duck  eggs  are  given  to  a  hen  that  would 
cover  thirteen  hen  eggs.  If  the  eggs  are  large,  it  is  better  to 
give  such  a  hen  only  nine. 

The  development  of  a  fertile  duck  egg  that  has  a  white  or 
slightly  tinted  shell  can  be  seen  very  plainly  when  the  egg  is 
held  before  a  light,  much  earlier  than  the  development  of  a  hen 
egg.  If  the  shell  is  green  and  quite  dark  in  color,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  germ  may  not  show  any  better  than  in  a  brown- 
shelled  hen  egg.  The  period  of  incubation  is  about  four  weeks. 
Eggs  are  sometimes  picked  as  early  as  the  twenty-fifth  day,  but 
usually  on  the  twenty-sixth  day.  As  stated  in  Chapter  II,  the 
duckling  usually  waits  quite  a  long  time  after  chipping  the  shell 
before  it  completes  the  process  and  emerges. 

In  a  little  duckling  we  find  the  most  striking  resemblance  to 
a  reptile  that  is  to  be  seen  among  domestic  birds.  It  has  a  long, 
soft  body,  a  long  neck,  short  legs,  and  a  wriggling  movement, 
and  sometimes,  when  it  is  wriggling  through  a  small  hole,  it  looks 
very  snakelike.  While  they  are  very  small,  ducklings  are  the 
most  interesting  of  young  birds.  They  will  go  to  the  water  as 


MANAGEMENT  OF  DUCKS  143 

soon  as  they  leave  the  nest.  Dabbling  in  it  will  not  hurt  them 
in  the  least  if  the  weather  is  pleasant,  if  the  water  is  not  cold, 
and  if  they  can  leave  it  when  they  are  tired  and  go  to  their 
mother  and  get  dry  and  warm.  Much  of  the  pleasure  of  growing 
young  ducks  is  in  watching  their  behavior  in  the  water.  For 
this  purpose  a  large  pan  or  a  small,  shallow  tub  may  be  placed 
in  their  coop.  It  should  either  be  sunk  in  the  ground,  so  that 
they  can  get  in  and  out  easily,  or  two  short  pieces  of  board  should 
be  nailed  together  at  such  an  angle  that  they  will  form  a  little 
walk  from  the  ground  outside,  over  the  edge  of  the  vessel,  and 
to  the  bottom  inside.  This  walk  enables  the  ducklings  to  get 
out  if  the  water  gets  so  low  that  they  cannot  scramble  from  its 
surface  over  the  sides  of  the  pan  or  tub.  The  best  way  to  teach 
the  little  ducks  to  use  the  walk  is  to  put  a  little  pile  of  sods  or 
earth  beside  the  vessel  containing  the  water.  The  ducks  will 
learn  very  quickly  to  go  into  the  water  in  this  way,  and  will  soon 
find  their  way  out  by  the  board  walk.  After  they  have  come  out 
by  the  walk  a  few  times,  they  will  begin  to  go  in  by  it.  It  is 
very  important  to  make  sure  that  if  young  ducks  are  given  water 
to  play  in,  they  can  get  out  of  it  easily.  Many  who  have  not  had 
experience  in  handling  them  neglect  this  and  feel  very  bad 
when  some  of  their  ducklings  are  drowned. 

If  proper  provision  is  made  for  the  safety  of  the  ducklings, 
they  afford  a  great  deal  of  entertainment.  One  of  the  first 
things  a  little  duck  does  when  it  gets  into  the  water  is  to  go 
through  the  peculiar  ducking  performance  that  gives  the  name 
to  its  species.  The  little  fellows  duck  their  heads  to  the  bottom, 
and  their  tails  and  feet  go  up  into  the  air  while  they  mechanically 
feel  with  their  bills  for  the  food  which  instinct  seems  to  suggest 
should  be  there.  They  play  in  the  water,  going  through  all  the 
motions  of  feeding  in  it.  If  the  sun  is  warm,  they  are  as  likely 
to  lie  down  together  in  the  sun  when  they  leave  the  water  as 
they  are  to  go  to  the  hen  to  be  brooded.  As  they  lie  on  the 
ground  they  often  turn  one  eye  toward  the  sky  and  look  steadily 


144  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

upward,  as  if  they  knew  intuitively  that  one  of  their  most  dan- 
gerous natural  enemies  might  appear  from  that  quarter.  In  every 
way  they  comport  themselves  just  as  old  ducks  do  and  not  at 
all  in  the  ways  of  their  hen  mother. 

The  young  ducks  may  be  fed,  as  the  old  ones  are,  on  mash, 
but  should  be  fed  oftener,  unless  their  coops  are  where  they  can 
eat  all  the  grass  they  want  and  can  get  a  great  many  flies,  worms, 
and  insects.  They  are  expert  flycatchers,  and  if  there  is  any- 
thing in  their  coop  to  attract  flies,  they  will  get  a  great  many  of 
them.  Under  such  conditions  three  feeds  a  day  will  be  sufficient. 
If  they  have  no  grass  they  should  be  fed  five  times  daily  and 
should  be  supplied  with  tender  green  food  of  some  kind.  For 
the  first  few  days  the  mash  given  them  should  have  a  little  very 
fine  gravel  or  coarse  sand  mixed  with  it — about  a  heaping  table- 
spoonful  to  a  quart  of  mash.  At  any  time  after  that  when  the 
ducks  seem  dull  and  weak,  a  little  fine  gravel  in  the  mash  will 
usually  tone  them  up. 

Little  ducks  grow  very  fast  and  in  a  few  weeks  are  entirely 
independent  of  the  hen.  At  ten  or  twelve  weeks  they  are  fully 
feathered  and  almost  full-grown,  and  are  ready  to  be  killed  and 
eaten  as  "  green  ducks." 


SMALL  FLOCKS  ON  FARMS 

General  conditions.  The  small  flock  of  ducks  on  the  farm  is 
usually  most  profitable  if  it  can  be  given  the  run  of  a  small  pas- 
ture or  orchard  where  the  birds  have  good  foraging  and  have 
access  to  a  pond  or  stream  but  cannot  wander  away.  Ducks  on 
the  farm  are  often  allowed  to  run  with  other  poultry.  This  may 
do  very  well  if  the  flocks  of  all  kinds  are  small  and  can  separate 
when  foraging,  but  as  a  rule  it  is  better  to  put  the  ducks  where 
they  will  be  away  from  other  poultry.  A  small  flock  of  ducks 
properly  placed  on  a  farm  should  require  very  little  food  and 
very  little  attention.  If  possible  the  birds  should  be  free  at  night, 


MANAGEMENT  OF  DUCKS  145 

because  the.  worms  and  grubs  come  to  the  surface  in  greatest 
abundance  then,  and  they  can  get  as  much  in  an  hour  early  in 
the  morning  as  they  can  in  several  hours  after  the  sun  is  high. 
The  principal  objections  to  leaving  them  out  at  night  are  that 
they  may  be  attacked  by  animals  that  prey  upon  them,  and  that 
the  ducks  may  lay  their  eggs  where  they  are  not  easily  found. 
The  person  in  charge  of  the  ducks  has  to  use  his  judgment  as 
to  whether  the  risks  in  his  case  are  so  great  that  the  ducks 
should  be  confined  at  night. 

When  a  flock  of  ducks  on  a  farm  has  liberty  to  wander  at 
will,  it  often  makes  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  because  ducks  are 
prone  to  stop  for  the  night  wherever  they  happen  to  be  when 
they  have  eaten  their  fill  late  in  the  day. 

Feeding.  If  the  ducks  are  kept  in  until  they  have  laid,  they 
should  have  a  little  food  when  they  are  let  out.  It  does  not 
make  much  difference  what  this  is.  If  a  mash  is  made  for  other 
poultry,  some  of  it  may  be  given  to  them.  Otherwise,  a  little 
whole  grain  will  make  them  comfortable  until  they  can  pick  up 
a  more  varied  breakfast.  The  best  method  of  feeding  the  young 
ducks  will  depend  upon  the  conditions.  As  a  rule  it  is  better  to 
keep  them  quite  close  for  the  first  two  or  three  weeks  and  feed 
them  well.  The  ideal  way  is  to  coop  them  on  grass,  or  in  a 
garden  where  they  can  get  a  great  deal  of  green  food  and  worms. 
Treated  in  this  way  they  will  get  a  better  start  and  will  grow 
much  faster  and  larger  than  if  they  are  allowed  to  wear  them- 
selves out  by  running  about  while  small.  On  a  farm  where 
there  is  no  water  near  the  house,  but  where  there  is  a  stream 
at  a  little  distance,  the  young  ducks  should  be  so  placed  that 
they  cannot  make  their  way  to  this  stream.  Very  small  ducks 
at  liberty  will  often  find  their  way  alone  to  water  so  far  from 
their  home  that  it  was  not  supposed  that  they  could  locate  it.  If 
they  have  an  opportunity  to  do  so,  small  ducks  are  much  more 
likely  than  older  ones  to  wander  off  in  search  of  water,  and 
instinct  seems  to  direct  them  toward  it. 


146 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


After  the  ducklings  are  three  or  four  weeks  old,  they  may  be 
given  as  much  freedom  as  old  ducks.  Unless  natural  food  is 
very  abundant,  they  should  be  fed  some  grain  for  a  while. 
Ducks  grown  in  this  way  cannot  be  sold  to  advantage  as  green 
ducks.  At  this  stage  of  growth  they  cannot  be  collected  from 
small  flocks  and  marketed  in  condition  to  bring  the  prices  paid 
for  those  from  the  special  duck  farms,  and  as  it  costs  the  farmer 
little  or  nothing  to  keep  his  ducks  until  mature,  it  is  usually 
more  profitable  for  him  to  do  so  than  to  sell  them  earlier. 


FIG.  132.  Duck  farms  at  Speonk,  Long  Island 

On  a  farm  near  a  market  where  there  is  a  good  demand  for 
green  ducks  it  might  pay  very  well  to  grow  several  hundred 
a  year.  On  this  scale  the  methods  should  be  similar  to  those 
used  on  the  special  duck  farms,  except  that  the  hatching  might 
be  done  with  hens.  It  would  not  do  to  let  the  ducks  run  about 
as  recommended  for  stock  which  is  to  be  kept  until  mature,  be- 
cause then  they  would  not  be  fat  at  the  age  for  killing  them. 


MARKET  DUCK  FARMS 

History.  The  growing  of  ducks  for  the  New  York  City 
market  began  on  Long  Island  at  a  very  early  stage  of  speciali- 
zation in  poultry  culture.  '  Many  farmers  there  produced  a  few 
hundred  ducks  for  this  market  each  year,  and  found  it  very 


MANAGEMENT  OF  DUCKS  147 

profitable.  As  the  demand  increased  they  tried  to  increase  pro- 
duction to  meet  it,  but  were  unable  to  do  this,  because  there  was 
then  in  this  country  no  duck  adapted  to  their  needs.  The  Ayles- 
bury  Duck,  the  favorite  table  duck  in  England,  was  too  delicate. 
The  only  hardy  white  duck  that  they  had  was  the  White  Muscovy. 
This  breed  was  not  very  satisfactory,  because  the  females  are 
much  smaller  than  the  males,  but  they  had  to  use  white  ducks,, 
for  the  colored  ducks  will  not  pick  clean  at  the  age  at  which 
ducks  can  be  marketed  most  profitably ;  so  they  did  the  best 


FIG.  133.  View  from  the  windmill  tower  in  Fig.  132 

they  could  with  the  White  Muscovy  Duck,  under  the  restric- 
tions placed  upon  their  operations  by  the  difficulty  of  getting 
broody  hens.  While  the  industry  was  mostly  on  Long  Island, 
there  were  duck  growers  here  and  there  on  the  mainland  in  the 
vicinity  of  New  York  and  also  near  Boston,  but  there  were  no 
duck  farms  of  any  importance  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

When  the  White  Pekin  Ducks  were  brought  from  China, 
and  reports  of  their  hardiness,  prolificacy,  and  rapid  growth 
were  circulated,  the  duck  growers  were  at  first  very  skeptical, 
but  they  soon  learned  that  the  reports  which  they  had  supposed 
were  greatly  exaggerated  were  literally  true.  Then  every  duck 


148  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

grower  had  to  have  Pekin  Ducks.  The  production  increased 
very  much  after  the  introduction  of  the  Pekin  Duck,  but  the 
growth  of  the  industry  was  still  retarded  by  the  impossibility 
of  getting  all  the  hens  that  were  needed  to  hatch  the  eggs. 
Several  incubators  had  been  invented,  which  hatched  very  well 
for  those  who  had  the  skill  to  operate  them,  but  which,  in  the 
•hands  of  unskilled  operators,  spoiled  most  of  the  eggs  placed  in 
them.  About  1890  appeared  the  first  incubators  with  automatic 
regulators  that  really  worked  so  that  the  ordinary  person  could 
manage  the  machines  successfully.  One  of  the  New  England 
duck  growers  who  had  invented  the  best  of  the  machines  used 
before  this  time  was  already  growing  ducklings  on  quite  a 
large  scale.  On  Long  Island,  where  most  of  the  duck  farms 
were  located,  the  farmers  were  hard  to  convince  of  the  superi- 
ority of  incubators  for  their  work.  Indeed,  the  only  way  that 
they  could  be  convinced  was  by  practical  demonstrations  right 
on  their  own  farms.  The  first  incubators  used  there  were  ma- 
chines set  up  on  trial  by  a  manufacturer  who  had  invented  an 
incubator  which  was  very  easy  to  operate.  This  man  went  to 
the  duck  growing  district,  placed  machines  on  various  farms, 
and  went  from  farm  to  farm  daily  to  attend  to  them,  until  the 
farmers  were  fully  convinced  that  the  machines  would  do  what 
was  claimed  for  them.  In  a  very  short' time  the  artificial  method 
had  displaced  hatching  with  hens  on  the  commercial  duck  farms, 
and  the  business  was  growing  amazingly.  Within  ten  years 
there  were  many  farms  producing  from  15,000  to  20,000  ducks 
a  year,  and  a  few  producing  from  40,000  to  50,000.  One  man 
on  Long  Island,  who  operated  two  farms  a  few  miles  apart, 
sometimes  grew  80,000  ducks  in  a  season.  Those  who  were 
successful  on  a  large  scale  became  moderately  rich.  Without 
exception  the  successful  duck  farms  have  been  built  up  from 
small  beginnings  by  men  who  had  very  little  capital  to  start 
with.  Some  of  these  farms  have  been  operated  on  a  large  scale 
for  twenty  years. 


FIG.  134.   House  and  yards  for  breeding  stock 


FIG.  135.  Brooder  house  for  young  ducklings 


FIG.  136.  Fattening  sheds  and  yards 

VIEWS  OF  WEBER  BROTHERS'  DUCK  FARM,  WRENTHAM, 
MASSACHUSETTS 


149 


150  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

As  would  be  expected,  the  success  of  the  big  duck  farms  has 
led  many  people  with  large  capital  to  undertake  to  establish 
duck  farms  on  a  still  larger  scale.  But  these  undertakings  do 
not  last  long,  because  it  is  practically  impossible  to  secure  for 
such  a  plant  an  organization  as  efficient  as  one  developed  by 
the  owner  of  a  plant  which  has  grown  from  small  beginnings 
under  his  own  management. 

Description.  A  large  duck  farm  is  a  very  interesting  place  at  any 
time,  but  is  most  interesting  at  the  height  of  the  growing  season, 


FIG.  137.  Duck  house  and  yards  on  seashore,  Fishers  Island,  New  York 

when  all  the  operations  in  the  business  are  going  on  at  the  same 
time.  The  total  number  of  birds  on  a  farm  at  any  time  is  very 
much  less  than  the  product  for  the  season,  because  the  first  ducks 
hatched  will  have  gone  to  market  before  the  eggs  which  produce 
the  last  are  laid,  but  in  flocks  of  more  than  1 0,000  the  impression 
on  the  visitor  is  much  the  same,  no  matter  what  the  numbers. 

Duck  farms  are  of  two  types  :  those  located  on  streams  or 
inlets  have  the  yards  for  all  but  the  smallest  ducks  partly  in  the 
water  ;  the  inland  duck  farms,  on  which  the  young  ducks  grown 
for  market  are  given  no  water  except  for  drinking.  Some  of 
the  inland  farms  give  the  breeding  stock  access  to  streams  and 


MANAGEMENT  OF  DUCKS  151 

ponds  only  during  the  molting  season,  when  they  can  be  allowed 
to  run  in  large  flocks  and  a  small  area  of  water  will  serve  for 
all.  For  a  time  after  the  large  inland  duck  farms  were  first 
established  it  was  claimed  by  many  that  ducks  grew  faster  when 
not  allowed  to  swim  than  they  did  when  allowed  to  follow  their 
natural  inclination  to  play  in  the  water.  No  doubt  some  ducks 
which  were  in  dry  yards  grew  better  than  some  having  access 
to  large  bodies  of  water,  and  on  the  whole  as  good  ducks 
were  grown  on  the  inland  farms  as  on  those  near  the  water, 


FIG.  138.    Quarters  for  breeding  stock  on  an  inland  duck  farm.     Swimming 
tanks  in  the  yards 

but  it  has  long  been  known  that  it  is  much  easier  to  manage 
the  ducks  when  they  have  water  in  their  yards.  There  are  two 
reasons  for  this  :  in  the  first  place,  they  are  much  more  contented 
in  the  water ;  in  the  second  place,  they  feel  very  much  safer 
on  the  water  when  anything  alarms  them,  and  will  keep  quiet 
on  it  when,  if  they  could  not  retreat  to  the  water,  they  would 
rush  about  in  a  panic  and  many  would  be  injured. 

Ducks  are  very  timid  and  easily  panic-stricken.  The  duck 
grower  has  to  take  every  possible  precaution  to  guard  against 
disturbances  of  this  kind,  because  ducks  are  so  easily  injured, 
and  even  if  they  are  not  hurt,  a  sudden  fright  will  make  them 


152  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

shrink  a  great  deal  in  weight.  Visitors  who  come  merely  out 
of  curiosity  are  not  desired  on  duck  farms  at  any  time,  and 
none  but  those  familiar  with  the  handling  of  ducks  are  ever 
allowed  to  go  about  the  farm  without  a  guide  who  will  see  that 
the  ducks  are  not  disturbed.  Many  visitors  think  that  this  is 
unreasonable,  but  the  duck  grower  knows  that  the  mere  pres- 
ence of  a  stranger  excites  the  ducks,  and  that  a  person  walking 
about  might  put  a  flock  in  a  panic  which  would  at  once  extend 
to  other  flocks,  simply  because  he  was  not  familiar  enough  with 
the  ways  of  ducks  to  detect  the  signs  of  panic  in  a  flock  which 
he  was  approaching,  and  to  stand  still  until  they  were  quiet, 
or  move  very  slowly  until  he  had  passed  them.  If  a  stranger, 
walking  between  yards  where  there  were  five  thousand  ducks 
fattening,  made  an  unconscious  movement  that  set  the  ducks  in 
motion,  the  loss  to  the  grower  could  hardly  be  less  than  from 
five  to  ten  dollars,  and  might  be  very  much  more.  Where  such 
little  things  can  cause  so  much  trouble  and  loss,  the  difference 
between  success  and  failure  may  lie  in  preventing  them. 

On  a  duck  plant  with  a  capacity  of  50,000  ducks  everything 
is  on  a  big  scale.  Although  ducks  will  stand  more  crowding 
than  other  kinds  of  poultry,  it  takes  a  large  farm  for  so  many. 
The  buildings  will  cover  many  thousands  of  square  feet  of  land 
and,  though  of  the  cheapest  substantial  structure,  will  represent 
an  investment  of  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  dollars.  Incubators, 
appliances,  breeding  stock,  and  supplies  on  hand  will  amount  to 
about  as  much.  The  incubator  cellar  will  be  several  times  as 
large  as  the  cellar  under  the  ordinary  dwelling  house.  Before 
the  so-called  mammoth  incubators  were  made,  the  largest-sized 
machines  heated  with  lamps  were  used  on  all  duck  farms, 
and  an  incubator  cellar  would  sometimes  contain  as  many  as 
seventy  incubators  having  a  capacity  of  from  200  to  300  eggs 
each.  Now  many  of  the  large  farms  use  the  mammoth  incuba- 
tors, with  a  capacity  of  from  6000  to  18,000  eggs  each.  These 
mammoth  incubators  are  really  series  of  small  egg  chambers  so 


MANAGEMENT  OF  DUCKS 


153 


arranged  that  the  entire  series  is  heated  by  pipes  coming  from 
a  hot-water  heater,  instead  of  each  chamber  having  an  inde- 
pendent lamp  heater  as  in  the  small,  or  individual,  machines. 


FIG.  139.   Feeding  young  ducks  on  farm  of  W.  R.  Curtiss  &  Co., 
Ransomville,  New  York 

As  nearly  all  kinds  of  supplies  are  bought  by  the  carload,  and 
as  stocks  must  be  kept  up  so  that  there  will  be  no  possibility 
of  running  short  of  foodstuffs,  a  great  deal  of  space  is  required 


154  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

for  storage.  Large  quantities  of  ice  are  needed  to  cool  the 
dressed  ducks  before  shipping  them  to  market,  so  the  farm 
must  have  its  own  ice  houses  and  store  its  own  supply  of  ice  in 
the  winter.  For  some  years  after  duck  farms  grew  to  such  large 
proportions,  the  mixing  of  mash  was  all  done  by  hand,  with 
shovels.  Often  one  man  was  kept  busy  all  day  long  mixing 
mash,  and  very  hard  work  it  was.  Now  the  men  on  the  large 
farms  mix  the  food  in  big  dough  mixers,  such  as  are  used  by 
bakers,  and  work  that  would  take  a  man  an  hour  is  done  in  a 
few  minutes. 

In  some  sections  the  killing  and  dressing  of  the  ducks  is  done 
by  men  with  whom  duck  picking  is  a  trade  at  which  they  work 
during  its  season.  In  others  the  killing  is  done  by  men,  but  the 
pickers  are  women  living  in  the  vicinity  of  the  farm,  who  can 
be  secured  for  this  work  whenever  they  are  needed.  A  farm 
that  markets  50,000  ducks  in  a  season  will  keep  a  large  force  of 
pickers  busy  the  greater  part  of  the  time  for  many  months. 
Quite  a  large  building  is  required  to  provide  room  for  the  pickers 
to  work  in,  for  tanks  for  cooling  500  or  more  ducks  at  once,  for 
space  for  the  men  who  pack  them,  and  for  lofts  for  drying  the 
feathers  before  they  are  sold.  This  drying  process  must  be  used 
whether  the  birds  are  dry-picked  or  are  scalded  before  the  feathers 
are  removed.  Water  on  feathers  dries  quickly,  but  the  oil  in 
the  quills  dries  very  slowly.  The  feathers  from  one  duck  are 
worth  only  a  few  cents,  and  where  small  numbers  are  grown  the 
feathers  are  hardly  worth  the  trouble  of  saving  and  curing.  On 
a  large  plant  the  total  product  of  feathers  for  a  season  amounts 
to  several  thousand  dollars,  and  it  pays  to  provide  facilities  for 
taking  proper  care  of  them. 

After  the  crop  of  ducks  on  an  inland  farm  is  marketed,  the 
fences  must  be  removed  and  the  land  plowed  and  sowed  with 
winter  rye.  This  crop  is  used  extensively  for  this  purpose,  be- 
cause it  is  a  gross  feeder  and  takes  the  impurities  from  the  soil 
very  fast,  and  also  furnishes  a  good  supply  of  green  food  for 


MANAGEMENT  OF  DUCKS  155 

the  stock  ducks  during  the  winter  and  for  the  first  young  ducks 
put  on  the  land  in  the  spring.  Where  the  farms  are  large 
enough,  all  ducks  may  be  kept  off  a  part  of  the  land  each  year 
and  crops  grown  on  it.  The  farms  located  at  the  waterside  do 
not  have  to  look  to  the  purification  of  the  land  so  carefully, 
because  the  rains  wash  a  great  deal  of  the  droppings  away. 
Some  of  these  farms  get  large  quantities  of  river  grass  from 
the  streams  and  cut  it  up  to  mix  with  the  food  for  the  ducks. 


DUCK  FANCIERS'  METHODS 

There  are  two  general  classes  of  duck  fanciers  :  those  who 
breed  one  or  more  of  the  useful  varieties  for  fine  form  and 
feather  points,  and  those  who  breed  the  ornamental  varieties. 
Breeders  of  the  latter  class  usually  keep  other  kinds  of  orna- 
mental poultry  also. 

The  methods  of  the  fanciers  of  useful  kinds  of  ducks  compare 
with  those  of  the  practical  growers  who  handle  small  numbers 
as  do  those  of  the  fowl  fancier  with  the  methods  of  the  poultry 
keeper  who  keeps  a  few  fowls  for  his  own  use.  In  a  general 
way  they  are  the  same,  yet  wherever  it  is  necessary  they  are 
modified  to  secure  the  best  possible  development  of  the  type.  If 
a  duck  fancier  has  not  a  natural  water  supply  for  his  ducks,  he 
either  makes  a  small  artificial  pond  or  ditch  or  gives  them  water 
for  bathing  much  oftener  than  the  commercial  duck  grower 
thinks  is  necessary.  He  also  gives  both  old  and  young  ducks 
more  room,  and  encourages  them  to  take  exercise,  because  this 
makes  them  stronger,  more  symmetrical,  and  better  able  to  stand 
transportation  and  the  handling  to  which  they  are  subjected  when 
taken  to  shows.  Most  duck  fanciers  are  also  fanciers  of  fowls  or 
of  some  other  kind  of  poultry.  The  competition  in  ducks  is  not 
nearly  so  keen  as  in  fowls.  Hence  they  are  so  much  less  inter- 
esting to  a  fancier  that  few  are  satisfied  with  the  sport  that  may 
be  obtained  from  exhibiting  ducks  only. 


156  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

When  the  growing  of  green  ducks  for  market  began  to  be 
developed  upon  a  large  scale,  many  of  those  engaged  in  this 
line  exhibited  stock  and  sold  birds  for  breeding  and  eggs  for 
hatching.  They  soon  found  that  while  the  Pekin  Duck  was 
unrivaled  as  a  market  duck,  it  was  not  of  sufficient  interest  to 
fanciers  to  excite  the  competition  that  creates  high  prices  for 
the  finest  specimens,  and  that  it  paid  them  better  to  devote 
themselves  exclusively  to  the  production  of  market  ducks.  At 
the  present  time  only  a  few  market  duck  growers  make  a  busi- 
ness of  selling  breeding  and  exhibition  stock.  Most  of  them 
will  not  take  small  orders,  but  will  fill  large  orders  when  they 
have  a  surplus  of  breeding  stock  and  can  get  a  good  price 
for  it.  On  almost  every  large  commercial  duck  farm  there  are 
hundreds  of  birds  much  better  than  most  of  the  Pekin  Ducks 
seen  at  poultry  shows,  and  many  better  than  the  best  exhibited. 
There  is  probably  no  other  kind  of  poultry  in  which  so  large  a 
proportion  of  the  finest  specimens  are  found  on  the  plants  of 
those  producing  for  market. 

The  ornamental  varieties  of  ducks  are  given  much  less  at- 
tention in  America  than  they  deserve.  Few  are  seen  except  in 
large  collections  of  fancy  waterfowl,  and  sales  from  these  col- 
lections are  principally  for  special  displays  at  shows.  On  many 
farms  the  Mallard,  Call,  and  East  Indian  Ducks  might  be  es- 
tablished and  left  to  themselves,  to  increase  in  a  natural  way, 
only  enough  being  sold  or  killed  to  keep  them  from  becoming 
too  numerous.  If  located  in  a  suitable  place,  such  a  flock  makes 
a  very  attractive  feature  on  a  farm.  The  highly  ornamental  Man- 
darin and  Carolina  Ducks,  being  able  to  fly  quite  as  well  as 
pigeons,  must  be  kept  in  covered  runs.  They  will  breed  and 
rear  their  young  in  a  very  small  space.  A  covered  run  6  ft. 
wide,  6  ft.  high,  and  from  20  to  30  ft.  long,  built  in  a  secluded 
place  and  having  a  small  shelter  at  one  end,  makes  a  very  satis- 
factory place  for  a  pair  of  ducks  of  any  of  the  small  breeds  to 
live  and  rear  their  young. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

GEESE 

People  who  are  not  familiar  with  animals  often  get  wrong 
ideas  of  the  characters  of  certain  creatures  from  the  popular 
metaphorical  use  of  their  names.  Perhaps  those  who  first  applied 
these  metaphors  understood  them  correctly,  but  after  long  use 
by  people  acquainted  with  the  metaphor  but  not  familiar  with  the 
animal  to  which  it  relates,  a  part  of  the  meaning  is  likely  to  be 
lost.  This  is  what  has  happened  to  the  term  "goose"  as  applied 
to  a  person.  When  one  acts  stupidly  foolish  about  some  little 
thing  he  is  often  called  a  goose.  Most  people,  associating  the 
idea  of  stupidity  with  the  name  of  the  goose,  suppose  that  geese 
are  very  stupid  and  uninteresting.  If  you  will  notice  how  the 
term  "  goose  "  is  commonly  applied  to  persons,  you  will  discover 
that  it  is  very  rarely  used  except  to  apply  to  a  person  for  whom 
the  speaker  has  a  great  deal  of  affection.  Under  the  same  cir- 
cumstances others  are  more  likely  to  be  designated  by  some 
harsher  term.  The  most  marked  characteristic  of  a  goose  is 
not  stupidity  but  an  affectionate  disposition.  The  ancient  Egyp- 
tians noted  this,  and  in  their  hieroglyphic  writing  a  goose  stood 
for  "  son."  The  goose  is  a  very  intelligent  and  interesting  bird. 
It  is  of  a  most  social  nature  and  becomes  very  much  attached 
not  only  to  its  mates  but  to  other  animals  and  to  people.  No 
domestic  animal  except  the  dog  develops  so  much  affection  for 
its  master  as  a  goose  will  if  it  is  permitted  to  do  so.  But,  while 
interesting  in  some  ways,  the  goose  has  so  little  of  the  other 
qualities  which  lead  man  to  make  a  companion  and  pet  of  an 
animal,  that  its  devotion  is  not  usually  encouraged.  Commercially 
geese  and  ducks  belong  to  the  same  class  and  are  used  in  the 


158 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


same  way  (the  goose  being  preferred  where  size  is  desired),  but 
in  some  points  of  character,  structure,  and  habits  they  are  quite 
different. 

Description.  In  general  appearance  a  goose  resembles  a  duck 
so  closely  that  people  not  familiar  with  both  often  mistake  large 
white  ducks  for  geese,  but  no  one  that  knows  either  kind  well 
is  likely  to  make  mistakes  in  the  identity  of  any  of  the  common 

varieties.  While 
many  of  the  small 
domestic  geese 
are  no  heavier 
than  the  largest 
ducks,  geese  are 
on  the  average 
more  than  twice 
as  large  as  ducks. 
Their  legs  are 
longer  and  much 
stronger.  Their 
bills  are  larger 
at  the  juncture 
with  the  head  and 
smaller  and  more 
pointed  at  the  tip. 
While  ducks  are 
usually  very  timid,  geese  are  bold,  and  this  makes  a  marked 
difference  in  their  attitude  when  approached  and  also  in  the 
carriage  of  their  bodies.  They  are  very  strong  birds,  quite  able 
to  defend  themselves  against  the  attacks  of  small  animals  and 
from  annoyance  by  children.  Indeed,  they  are  very  likely  to 
take  an  aggressive  attitude  toward  persons  or  animals  that  they 
regard  as  trespassers,  and  a  large  gander  when  angry  is  a  dan- 
gerous customer.  A  blow  from  his  wing  might  knock  a  child 
down  or  even  break  a  small  child's  arm. 


FIG.  140.  Emden  Geese 


GEESE 


159 


There  are  no  regular  distinguishing  marks  of  sex  in  geese. 
The  males  average  larger  than  the  females,  but  the  difference 
is  slight  and  some  females  may  be  larger  than  some  males  of 
the  same  breeding.  In  some  foreign  varieties,  not  known  in 
this  country,  the  males  are  mostly  of  one  color  and  the  females 
of  another,  but  as  there  are  exceptions  to  this  rule,  it  is  not 
reliable.  In  those  varieties  which  have  a  knob  on  the  bill  this 
is  likely  to  be  more  prominent  in  the  males.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  form  of  the 
plumage  to  distin- 
guish the  male,  like 
the  little  curl  in  the 
tail  of  the  drake. 
The  voices  of  males 
and  females  are  so 
nearly  alike  that, 
while  a  difference 
may  sometimes  be 
noted  in  the  voices 
of  birds  known  to  be 
of  different  sexes, 
the  voice  is  not  a 
plain  indication  of 
the  sex.  There  are 

,.  FIG.  141.  Toulouse  Geese 

some  males  so  dis- 
tinctly masculine,  and  some  females  so  distinctly  feminine,  in 
appearance  and  behavior,  that  a  person  familiar  with  geese  will 
not  often  make  a  mistake  in  identifying  the  sex  by  the  general 
appearance.  There  are  others  about  which  the  most  expert 
goose  breeder  is  in  doubt  until  the  laying  season  arrives  and  the 
production  or  nonproduction  of  eggs  shows  without  doubt  which 
birds  are  females  and  which  are  males. 

The  name  goose  is  applied  to  either  male  or  female  without 
reference  to  sex,  and  also  to  the  female  as  distinguished  from 


160  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

the  male.  The  male  is  called  a  gander.  The  young  are  called 
goslings.  Goose  and  gander  are  the  modern  forms  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  names. 

Origin.  Our  fully  domesticated  geese  all  originated  in  the 
Old  World.  The  European  stock  is  believed  to  be  derived 
from  the  Gray  Lag  Goose,  which  is  still  found  in  Europe  in 
the  wild  state.  The  origin  of  the  curious  name  "  Gray  Lag" 
has  been  the  subject  of  much  speculation.  The  most  plausible 
theory  is  that  which  takes  "  lag "  in  its  common  meaning 


FIG.  142.  Toulouse  goslings  three  weeks  old 

and  supposes  that  the  term  was  applied  to  this  species  of  goose 
because  it  was  slower  in  motion,  or  because  it  lingered  longer 
in  Northern  Europe,  than  the  less  familiar  species.  As  in  the 
wild  state  the  Gray  Lag  Goose  ranged  over  Europe  and. North- 
ern Asia,  it  may  have  been  domesticated  many  times  in  many 
different  places.  Wild  specimens  may  still  be  brought  into 
domestication,  but  there  are  no  authentic  reports  of  such  cases. 
The  Chinese  breeds  of  geese,  which  will  shortly  be  described, 
are  quite  different  in  appearance  from  the  European  races, 
but  the  difference  does  not  necessarily  show  that  they  are  of 
different  origin. 


GEESE  161 

Common  geese.  Throughout  Europe  and  America  the  ordi- 
nary geese  are  of  much  the  same  type  as  their  wild  progenitor. 
They  are  a  little  heavier  and  coarser  than  the  Gray  Lag  Goose, 
and  have  not  its  great  power  of  flight,  yet  some  of  them  can  fly 
better  than  any  other  domestic  poultry.  The  author  has  seen 
flocks  of  common  geese  fly  from  a  high  hill  over  the  roofs  of 
tall  buildings  at  its  foot  and  alight  in  a  stream  fully  an  eighth 
of  a  mile  from  where  they  started.  It  is  perhaps  needless  to  say 
that  they  always  walked  home.  Such  geese  were  hard-meated 
and  tough  except  when  quite  young.  They  were  geese  that 
picked  the  most  of  their  living  where  food  was  none  too  plenty. 
Well-kept  stocks  of  common  geese  have  probably  always  been 
very  good  table  poultry. 

Improved  races.  In  various  parts  of  Europe  the  common 
geese  have  somewhat  distinctive  race  characteristics.  The  Roman 
Geese  are  supposed  to  be  the  oldest  distinct  race.  They  differ 
from  ordinary  geese  in  that  the  prevailing  color  is  white,  and 
they  are  more  prolific  layers.  The  Pomeranian  Goose,  found 
throughout  Germany  and  Southeastern  Europe,  is  somewhat 
larger.  The  female  of  this  race  is  usually  white,  the  male  white 
with  a  gray  back.  Because  of  the  peculiar  markings  of  the  male 
this  variety  is  sometimes  called  the  Saddleback  Goose.  The 
Emden  and  Toulouse  Geese  are  very  large.  The  Emden  was 
developed  in  Germany,  where  it  was  at  one  time  called  the 
Brunswick  Goose.  The  first  specimens  seen  in  America  came 
from  Bremen  in  1826  and  were  called  Bremen  Geese.  They 
had  been  known  in  England  for  a  long  time  and  had  become 
very  popular  there  under  the  name  of  "  Emden  Geese."  The 
name  "Bremen"  was  used  in  this  country  until  about  1850, 
when  the  English  name  was  adopted. 

The  Toulouse  Goose  is  a  very  large  gray  goose  which  origi- 
nated in  a  goose-growing  district  in  the  vicinity  of  Toulouse  in 
the  South  of  France.  It  was  introduced  into  England  about 
1840  and  into  America  about  fifteen  years  later. 


162 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


In  Russia  gander  fighting  was  from  very  ancient  times  a 
popular  sport,  and  several  varieties  of  geese  were  bred  especially 
for  their  fighting  qualities.  The  most  common  of  these  is  the 
Tula  Goose,  which  is  usually  gray  in  color  but  is  sometimes  clay- 
colored.  The  latter  point  is  very  interesting  for  its  bearing  on 
the  question  of  the  common  origin  of  the  European  and  Asiatic 


FIG.  143.  White  China  Geese.    (Photograph  from  Charles  McClave, 
New  London,  Ohio) 

breeds  of  geese,  to  be  discussed  in  the  next  paragraph.     None 
of  the  Russian  races  of  geese  are  known  in  this  country. 

The  Asiatic  races  of  geese  probably  came  to  America  as  early 
as  the  Asiatic  races  of  fowls.  They  were  early  known  in  England 
under  a  variety  of  names,  and  were  quite  popular  there  over  a 
hundred  years  ago  as  Spanish  Geese.  A  writer  in  an  agricultural 
paper  in  1848  stated  that  he  had  seen  White  China  Geese  in 


GEESE 


163 


Virginia  in  1817.  It  appears,  however,  that  the  early  introduc- 
tions were  immediately  so  mixed  with  the  native  geese  that  the 
distinct  type  was  lost,  and  that  it  was  not  until  nearly  1850  that 
the  specimens  were  brought  here  from  which  the  stocks  now 
known  were  produced.  There  are  two  varieties  of  the  China 
Goose — White  and  Brown.  They  are  smaller  and  more  graceful 
than  the  improved 
European  varie- 
ties and  are  more 
prolific  layers  than 
any  except  per- 
haps the  Roman 
Goose.  They  have 
a  large  knob  on 
the  head  at  its 
juncture  with  the 
upper  mandible. 
Most  of  the  geese 
of  Europe  are 
either  white  or 
gray  (black-and- 
white).  The  red 
which  appears  to 
a  slight  extent  as 
brown  in  the  Gray 
Lag  Goose  has 
been  lost  or  so  reduced  that  it  is  not  noticed  except  in  the  Tula 
Goose,  which  is  sometimes  clay-colored.  The  colored  variety  of 
the  China  Goose  is  distinctly  brown.  Hence,  if  they  came  from 
the  same  wild  species  as  the  European  geese,  the  red  which  was 
reduced  in  Europe  was  greatly  increased  in  China.  But  if, 
as  is  not  impossible,  they  came  from  different  wild  species, 
a  most  interesting  question  arises  :  The  Chinese  types  and 
the  European  types  are  perfectly  fertile  when  bred  together. 


FIG.  144.   Brown  China  Geese.    (Photograph  by 
E.  J.  Hall) 


1 64 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


Would  their  wild  ancestors  (supposing  them  to  have  the  same 
characteristics)  be  equally  fertile  ?  Unless  we  can  find  a  wild 
ancestor  for  the  Chinese  type,  all  that  we  know  of  the  relations 
of  domestic  races  points  to  the  conclusion  that  they,  like  the 
European  races,  are  descended  from  the  Gray  Lag  Goose. 

The  variety  known  as  the  African  Goose  is  a  larger  and 
coarser  type  of  the  Brown  China,  and  is  probably  obtained  by 
crossing  with  the  Toulouse  or  by  selection  from  mixed  flocks. 


FIG.  145.   African  Geese  on  a  Rhode  Island  farm 

Nothing  definite  is  known  of  the  origin  of  this  type,  but  to  any 
one  familiar  with  the  stock  in  the  goose-growing  district  of  Rhode 
Island,  and  with  the  breeding  methods  of  the  farmers  there  as 
applied  in  the  development  of  the  Rhode  Island  Red  fowl,  it 
appears  probable  that  African  Geese  came  from  this  district. 
Ornamental  varieties.  There  are  two  ornamental  varieties  of 
domestic  geese  and  quite  a  number  of  species  of  wild  geese  that 
are  kept  in  collections  of  fancy  waterfowl.  The  Sebastopol 
Goose  evidently  belongs  to  the  common  domestic  species.  It  is 


GEESE  165 

about  the  size  of  the  common  goose,  is  white  in  color,  and  has 
a  peculiar  development  of  some  of  the  feathers  of  the  body  and 
wings,  this  development  of  the  plumage  giving  the  variety  its 
ornamental  character.  A  number  of  feathers  on  the  back  of  this 
bird  are  long  and  twisted,  as  if  they  had  been  loosely  curled,  and 
lie  in  a  wavy  mass  on  the  back  and  rump.  The  Egyptian  Goose 
is  the  smallest  domestic  goose.  It  is  unlike  other  domestic  geese 


FIG.  146.  Sebastopol  Geese  on  an  English  farm 

in  being  quite  gaudy  in  color.  It  is  found  in  the  wild  state  and 
also  in  domestication  in  many  parts  of  Africa.  Sebastopol  and 
Egyptian  Geese  are  rare  in  this  country. 

The  Canada  Goose,  or  American  Wild  Goose.  Few  persons  in 
America  have  not  at  some  time  seen  a  flock  of  wild  geese  flying 
in  wedgelike  formation  as  they  migrate  in  the  spring  and  fall. 
Their  honking  can  often  be  heard  when  they  cannot  be  seen. 
Hunters  watch  for  these  flocks  and,  when  they  are  flying  low, 


1 66 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


sometimes  shoot  them  as  they  pass,  but  the  favorite  method  of 
hunting  wild  geese  is  to  induce  them  to  approach  a  hunter  con- 
cealed where  he  can  get  a  better  shot  at  them.  For  this  kind  of 
hunting,  shooting  stands  are  built  near  bodies  of  water  where 
wild  geese  may  alight  in  their  passage.  These  stands  are  either 
concealed  in  the  bushes  or  masked  by  green  boughs.  In  order 
to  bring  near  the  stands  any  wild  geese  that  may  alight  of  their 
own  accord,  and  also  to  attract  any  flying  by,  captive  wild  geese 

are  used  as  decoys.  At  first 
the  birds  used  for  this  pur- 
pose were  those  crippled  but 
not  killed  by  the  hunters 
and  kept  in  confinement. 
As  the  supply  secured  in 
this  way  was  small,  and  as 
the  wild  birds  bred  readily 
in  captivity,  the  breeding  of 
wild  geese  for  decoys  soon 
became  quite  common  in 
districts  where  the  shoot- 
ing of  this  kind  of  game 
was  good.  The  wild  geese 
will  mate  with  domestic 
geese,  producing  a  sterile 
hybrid  called  a  mongrel 
goose. 

Place  of  geese  in  domestication.  In  ancient  Egypt  and  Rome 
the  goose  was  a  sacred  bird,  not  an  object  of  worship  but  re- 
served for  the  use  of  the  priests,  who  keenly  appreciated  the 
advantage  of  having  a  monopoly  of  the  use  of  the  best  domestic 
table  bird  then  in  existence.  In  later  times,  until  the  turkey  was 
introduced,  goose  was  the  favorite  kind  of  poultry  for  festal 
occasions  all  through  Europe.  Then  it  lost  some  of  its  popu- 
larity in  those  places  where  turkeys  were  extensively  grown.  In 


FIG.  147.  A  pet  Canada  gander.    (Pho- 
tograph from  George  E.  Parrett) 


GEESE 


167 


Germany,  Austria,  and  Russia  there  is  still  a  very  large  produc- 
tion of  geese.  In  this  country  geese  are  grown  in  small  numbers 
by  a  few  persons  in  almost  every  community.  The  feeding  and 
flocking  habits  of  geese  especially  adapted  them  to  the  conditions 
under  which  they  were  kept  when  stock  of  all  kinds  was  allowed 
to  run  at  large  and  to  feed  on  common  or  unoccupied  land  in 
charge  of  a  gooseherd.  As  towns  grew,  and  as  people  became 
less  tolerant  of  the  trespassing  of  live  stock,  the  growing  of  geese 


FIG.  148.  Mongrel  Geese  on  a  Rhode  Island  farm 

in  towns  declined.  Nearly  all  the  geese  now  produced  in  this 
country  come  from  flocks  on  general  farms.  The  production  of 
geese  on  farms  has  been  restricted  to  some  extent  by  the  abun- 
dance and  cheapness  of  turkeys.  As  turkeys  become  scarce  and 
dear  in  any  locality  the  production  of  geese  seems  to  increase. 
From  early  times  geese  have  been  prized  for  their  feathers.  So 
valuable  have  these  been  considered  that  it  has  been  a  practice 
to  pluck  the  live  geese  each  year  before  they  molted.  Public 
opinion  now  condemns  this  barbarous  practice,  and  persons  pluck- 
ing live  geese  are  sometimes  punished  for  cruelty  to  animals. 


CHAPTER  IX 

MANAGEMENT  OF  GEESE 

Geese  will  bear  confinement  well  if  given  proper  attention, 
but  they  require  such  large  quantities  of  succulent  green  food 
that  it  does  not  pay  to  grow  them  where  they  cannot  secure 
most  of  this  by  foraging.  Very  few  people  who  keep  geese  in 
inclosures  too  small  to  furnish  them  with  good  pasture  can  con- 
veniently supply  them  with  all  the  green  food  that  they  need. 
Hence  no  one  engages  in  growing  geese  in  close  quarters  for 
profit.  Many,  however,  grow  a  few  geese  under  such  conditions 
because  of  the  interest  a  small  flock  affords.  Goose  growing 
cannot  be  developed  on  intensive  lines  as  duck  growing  has 
been.  One  obstacle  to  this  is  the  difficulty  of  supplying  green 
food  under  such  conditions.  Another  is  that  the  average  egg 
production  is  small.  The  description  of  the  management  of 
geese  on  farms  will  show  more  fully  why  this  branch  of  poultry 
culture  is  likely  always  to  be  restricted  to  general  farms. 

SMALL  FARM  FLOCKS 

Size  of  flock.  On  the  ordinary  farm,  where  only  a  few  dozen 
geese  are  grown  each  year,  a  flock  of  one  male  and  from  two  to 
four  females  gives  a  sufficient  number  of  breeding  birds.  It  is 
more  difficult  to  get  a  start  with  geese  than  with  fowls  or  ducks, 
because  a  young  gander  will  often  mate  with  only  one  goose, 
and  an  old  gander  separated  from  mates  to  which  he  has  become 
attached  may  be  very  slow  about  establishing  new  family  rela- 
tions. An  experienced  goose  grower  does  not  expect  to  get  very 
good  results  the  first  season  that  a  flock  of  breeding  birds  are 

1 68 


MANAGEMENT  OF  GEESE  169 

together.  On  the  other  hand,  a  flock  once  harmoniously  mated 
does  not  have  to  be  renewed  every  year  or  two.  As  long  as  the 
old  birds  are  vigorous  the  entire  product  of  young  may  be  sold 
each  season  without  reducing  the  producing  capacity  of  the  flock. 
The  average  gander  is  past  his  prime  after  he  is  six  or  seven 
years  old,  but  geese  are  often  good  breeders  until  ten  or  twelve 
years  old.  Occasionally  a  goose  lives  to  a  great  age.  There  are 
reliable  accounts  of  geese  breeding  well  when  over  twenty  years 
old.  Some  stories  of  geese  living  to  more  than  eighty  years  of 
age  have  been  widely  circulated,  but  little  credence  is  to  be  given 
such  tales  ;  people  who  originate  them  and  suppose  that  they  are 
true  do  not  know  how  difficult  it  would  be  to  make  sure  of  the 
identity  of  a  goose  through  so  long  a  period. 

Houses  and  yards.  Geese,  like  ducks,  prefer  to  live  in  the 
open  air,  and  do  not  often  voluntarily  take  shelter  from  any 
element  but  heat.  It  is  customary  to  provide  a  small  shelter 
which  thay  may  use  if  they  wish.  In  most  cases  it  is  not  neces- 
sary for  a  farmer  to  make  a  yard  especially  for  geese.  The 
permanent  fences  or  walls  between  the  divisions  of  the  farm  will 
usually  keep  geese  in  the  pasture  allotted  to  them.  The  best 
place  for  geese  is  a  marshy  meadow  in  which  some  parts  of  the 
surface  are  elevated  enough  to  be  quite  dry  at  all  seasons.  These 
places  afford  more  comfortable  resting  places  when  the  birds 
tire  of  the  wet  land.  They  also  furnish  different  kinds  of  grass 
from  those  growing  on  very  wet  land.  On  many  farms  there 
are  tracts  of  land  much  more  suitable  for  geese  than  for  any 
other  live  stock.  Cattle  and  hogs  sometimes  cut  up  such  land 
very  badly,  destroying  the  vegetation  on  it  and  making  it  un- 
sightly. Such  a  piece  of  land  is  sometimes  a  part  of  a  pasture 
used  for  cattle.  In  that  case  it  may  be  a  good  plan  to  fence  the 
cattle  from  the  soft  ground  with  a  wire  or  rail  fence,  which  keeps 
them  out  of  the  part  reserved  for  the  geese,  yet  allows  the 
geese  the  range  of  the  whole  pasture.  A  small  number  of  geese 
in  a  large  pasture  will  not  hurt  the  pasture  for  cattle  or  horses. 


I/O  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

Too  many  geese  in  a  pasture  spoil  the  grass  for  themselves  as 
well  as  for  other  stock.  Even  when  cattle  have  access  to  all 
parts  of  a  pasture  in  which  there  are  geese,  a  small  space  should 
be  inclosed  for  a  feeding  pen,  where  food  for  the  geese  will  be 
out  of  the  reach  of  other  stock.  This  is  especially  necessary 
during  the  breeding  season,  when  they  usually  require  extra  food. 

Feeding.  A  flock  of  geese  in  a  good  pasture  need  no  other 
food  except  at  the  breeding  season  or  when  they  are  being 
fattened.  If  there  is  any  doubt  about  the  pasturage  being  suffi- 
cient, a  small  trough  or  box  containing  grain  of  any  kind  that  it 
is  convenient  to  give  them  should  be  put  where  they  can  eat 
what  they  want.  When  there  is  snow  on  the  ground,  they  should 
have  a  little  grain  and  all  the  cabbage,  beets,  turnips,  or  other 
vegetables  they  want. 

Laying  season  and  habits.  Geese  usually  begin  to  lay  in 
February  or  March.  As  many  nests  should  be  provided  as  there 
are  geese,  for  while  two  or  more  geese  sometimes  lay  peaceably 
in  the  same  nest,  it  is  more  likely  that  each  goose  will  want  one 
to  herself.  A  barrel  placed  on  its  side  in  a  secluded  place  makes 
a  good  nest.  Geese  are  sometimes  very  notional  about  the  loca- 
tion of  the  nest  and,  neglecting  one  provided  for  them,  may 
choose  a  spot  right  out  in  the  open  or  in  some  place  where  the 
nest  is  not  well  protected.  When  they  do  this,  it  is  a  good  plan 
to  place  over  the  nest,  without  disturbing  it,  a  large  box  with  a  hole 
cut  in  one  end  for  passage.  Geese,  like  ducks,  lay  very  early 
in  the  morning.  When  they  begin  laying  while  the  weather  is 
cold,  the  person  who  has  charge  of  them  must  be  up  early  and 
get  the  eggs  before  they  are  chilled.  A  goose  usually  lays  from 
twelve  to  eighteen  or  twenty  eggs  and  then  goes  broody.  The 
common  practice  is  to  set  the  first  lot  of  eggs  under  hens,  and 
keep  the  goose  away  from  her  nest  until  she  shows  no  inclina- 
tion to  sit.  She  may  then  be  allowed  access  to  the  nest  and 
before  long  will  begin  laying  again.  As  a  rule  the  second  lot  of 
eggs  will  be  fewer  in  number  than  the  first.  When  the  goose 


MANAGEMENT  OF  GEESE  17 1 

goes  broody  the  second  time,  it  is  as  well  to  set  her,  for  if 
stopped  again  she  may  not  resume  laying.  Occasionally  a  goose 
lays  for  a  whole  season  without  going  broody. 

Hatching  and  rearing  goslings.  In  hatching  goose  eggs  under 
hens  the  hens  are  managed  in  just  the  same  way  as  if  they  had 
hen  eggs.  Each  hen  is  given  four  or  five  eggs,  according  to 
the  size  of  the  eggs  and  the  size  of  the  hen.  A  goose  must  be 
set  in  the  nest  where  she  has  been  laying.  If  she  is  inclined  to 
be  very  cross  if  approached  while  sitting,  she  should  be  left  to 
herself  as  much  as  possible,  care  being  taken  that  nothing  can 
molest  her.  With  the  help  of  the  gander  a  goose  can  defend 
her  nest  against  almost  anything  likely  to  attack  it,  but  some 
eggs  would  probably  be  broken  in  the  fray. 

The  period  of  incubation  is  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  days. 
The  goslings  sometimes  chip  the  eggs  two  days  before  com- 
pleting the  process.  They  should  be  left  in  the  nest  until  they 
begin  to  run  about.  Then,  if  they  are  with  a  goose  mother, 
they  may  safely  be  left  to  the  care  of  the  old  ones,  and  may 
not  even  need  to  be  fed.  The  early  goslings  with  hen  mothers 
should  be  placed  on  sod  ground  where  the  grass  is  fine  and 
soft,  in  coops  such  as  are  used  for  little  chickens,  with  a  small 
pen  in  front  of  each  coop  to  keep  them  from  wandering  away. 
This  pen  may  be  made  of  boards  8  or  10  inches  wide,  set  on 
edge  and  kept  in  place  by  small  sticks  driven  into  the  ground. 
It  is  best  to  give  them  only  grass  to  eat  the  first  day.  After  that 
two  or  three  light  feeds  of  mash  may  be  given  daily,  but  they 
should  always  have  all  the  fresh,  succulent  green  food  that  they 
can  eat.  The  coops  and  pens  should  be  moved  as  often  as  is 
necessary  to  secure  this  end.  The  goslings  should  also  be  con- 
stantly supplied  with  drinking  water.  They  will  appreciate  a 
bath  occasionally. 

Goslings  grow  very  rapidly.  In  from  ten  to  fourteen  days 
they  are  so  large  that  they  no  longer  need  the  hen  mother  and 
she  may  be  taken  away.  At  this  stage  several  broods  may  be 


1/2 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


FIG.  149.  Goslings  three  or  four 
days  old 


combined  and  the  flock  allowed  the  run  of  any  place  where  it 

can  graze  unmolested.  A  shelter  should  be  provided  for  protec- 
tion from  the  sun,  and  a  roomy 
coop  with  a  dry  floor  to  keep 
them  in  at  night.  If  allowed 
to  do  so,  they  would  stay  out 
and  graze  at  intervals  during 
the  night,  but  the  owner  will 
sleep  more  comfortably  if  he 
is  sure  that  nothing  can  dis- 
turb them.  Although  very  big 
babies,  they  are  quite  soft  and 
helpless  at  this  stage.  When 

six  weeks  old  a  gosling  is  nearly  half-grown.    Young  goslings 

that    were    started    with    hen 

mothers  may  then  be  put  into 

the  pasture  with  the  old  geese. 

When  ten  or  twelve  weeks  old 

they  will  be  almost  as  large  as 

the  adult  birds. 

FIG.  i  co.  Goslings  three  weeks  old 

In    growing    geese    on  the 

farm'the  most  important  thing  is  to  provide  good  pasture.   Grass 

is  not  only  the  most  econom- 
ical food,  but  it  is  the  best 
food.  Geese  will  grow  and 
fatten  on  grass  without  grain, 
but  will  not  fatten  as  quickly 
or  be  as  firm-fleshed.  To  fatten 
for  market  they  should  be  con- 
fined for  from  ten  to  twenty 
days  before  they  are  to  be 

FIG.  151.  Goslings  nine  weeks  old         ^^    ^    fed    ^    ^    they 

will  eat  of  some  very  fattening  food.     Corn  soaked  in  water 
until  it  is  soft  is  an  easily  prepared  food  and  a  very  good  one. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  GEESE  173 

LARGE  FLOCKS  OF  GEESE  ON  FARMS 

The  most  important  goose-growing  district  in  the  United 
States  is  that  part  of  Rhode  Island  where  the  colony  system  of 
egg  farming  is  used.  This  district  is  well  adapted  to  goose  grow- 
ing. The  winters  are  not  severe,  and  the  birds  can  have  grass 
almost  the  year  round.  The  breeding  geese  are  often  kept  in 
pastures  occupied  by  hens  and  cattle,  but  there  are  also  many 
small  ponds  and  marshy  places  used  exclusively  for  geese.  The 
absence  of  foxes  makes  it  possible  to  keep  them  in  fields  a  long 
way  from  the  farmhouses,  and  for  this  reason  many  spots  are 
used  for  geese  which  in  other  districts  would  be  too  exposed. 
The  large  flocks  of  hens  in  this  district  give  an  abundance  of 
sitters  to  hatch  the  early  goslings.  As  the  person  who  looks 
after  the  sitting  hens  and  the  young  chickens  on  one  of  these 
farms  has  to  give  the  greater  part  of  his  time  to  that  work  for 
several  months  in  the  spring,  he  can  often  use  the  remaining 
time  to  best  advantage  by  hatching  and  rearing  a  few  hundred 
goslings.  So  a  large  proportion  of  the  farms  which  specialize 
in  eggs  also  specialize  in  geese. 

The  numbers  grown  on  a  farm  vary  from  100  to  500,  the 
average  being  between  200  and  300.  To  produce  this  average 
number,  flocks  of  15  or  20  geese  and  4  or  5  ganders  are  kept. 
A  flock  of  this  kind  does  not  mate  miscellaneously,  as  a  similar 
flock  of  ducks  would.  It  is  composed  of  as  many  families  as 
there  are  ganders,  and  if  the  pasture  is  large,  these  families 
will  remain  separate  a  great  deal  of  the  time. 

The  method  of  handling  the  geese  on  these  farms  differs  from 
the  ordinary  farm  method  in  that  the  work  is  done  more  system- 
atically and  more  attention  is  given  to  the  goslings  while  growing. 
They  are  grazed  each  year  on  new  grassland.  Most  of  them 
are  sold  unfatted,  as  soon  as  they  are  of  full  size,  to  men  who 
make  a  business  of  fattening  and  dressing  them. 


174  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

GOOSE-FATTENING  FARMS 

Market  duck  growing  is  conducted  on  so  large  a  scale  that 
each  grower  can  employ  expert  pickers  and  sell  his  product  di- 
rectly to  wholesale  dealers  in  poultry.  So  the  duck  grower  fattens 
his  own  ducks  before  killing  them.  It  is  natural  for  him  to  do 
this,  too,  because  his  method  of  fattening  is  a  modification  of 
the  feeding  process  which  he  has  used  from  the  start.  As  he 


FIG.  152.  Goslings  grazing  on  a  Rhode  Island  farm 

nears  the  end  of  his  process  of  feeding,  he  simply  increases  the 
proportion  of  fat-forming  material  in  the  food  and  feeds  all  that 
the  ducks  will  eat.  The  fattening  of  geese  that  have  been  grown 
on  grass  to  make  them  of  the  quality  that  will  bring  the  highest 
price  requires  a  change  to  a  heavy  grain  diet.  The  farmers  who 
grow  these  geese  could  fatten  them  better  than  any  one  else  and 
make  more  profit  on  them,  but  few  of  these  farmers  are  willing 
to  give  them  the  special  attention  that  this  requires.  So  large 
a  part  of  the  geese  sold  alive  are  thin  that  the  men  who  bought 
them  to  dress  for  market  long  ago  saw  an  opportunity  to  make 


175 


176  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

a  greater  profit  by  fattening  them  before  they  were  killed.  Some 
of  those  who  engaged  in  fattening  geese  were  very  successful 
and  made  large  profits.  As  they  extended  operations  in  this 
line  they  required  a  great  deal  of  land.  Sometimes  as  many 
as  15,000  geese  are  fattened  on  one  farm  in  a  season.  The 
fatteners  buy  in  the  early  part  of  the  summer  from  the  farmers 
who  sell  the  green  geese  as  soon  as  they  are  grown.  As  these 
make  the  finest  geese  for  the  table,  and  as  the  best  demand  for 
geese  comes  at  the  holiday  season  in  the  winter,  a  large  part  of 
them  are  put  in  storage  after  being  killed.  After  the  green  geese 
are  disposed  of,  the  fatteners  buy  live  geese  shipped  in  from 
distant  points,  and  have  them  ready  to  kill  about  the  time  when 
the  demand  for  goose  is  good. 

While  they  are  very  profitable  when  everything  goes  well,  fat- 
tening geese  is  a  business  attended  by  heavy  risks.  In  buying 
from  many  different  sources  a  fattener  may  get  some  geese  having 
a  contagious  disease,  and  the  infection  may  spread  through  his 
whole  flock  before  he  discovers  it,  for  some  diseases  have  no 
pronounced  symptoms  in  their  early  stages.  Keeping  such  large 
numbers  of  geese  on  the  same  land  year  after  year  also  brings 
trouble  through  the  pollution  of  the  soil. 

GROWING  THOROUGHBRED  GEESE  FOR  EXHIBITION 

The  proportion  of  thoroughbred  geese  among  those  grown 
for  market  is  very  small.  Most  of  the  geese  on  farms  are  grades 
produced  by  crossing  thoroughbred  or  high-grade  males  on  the  old 
unimproved  stock.  This  gives  a  type  of  goose  which  is  much 
better  than  the  old  common  goose  but  not  nearly  as  large  as 
the  heavy  Emden  and  Toulouse  Geese.  The  intermediate  size 
is,  however,  large  enough  to  meet  the  general  market  demand. 
The  production  of  thoroughbred  geese  is  carried  on  to  supply 
stock  of  medium  quality  for  the  farmers  who  want  to  maintain 
a  good  grade  of  stock,  and  to  supply  exhibition  birds  of  the 


MANAGEMENT  OF  GEESE  1/7 

best  quality  for  the  relatively  small  numbers  of  fanciers  and 
breeders  of  standard-bred  stock.  The  usual  method  of  growing 
exhibition  geese  is  to  keep  only  one  breed  on  a  farm,  and  to  man- 
age them  as  ordinary  geese  are  managed,  except  that,  to  secure 
the  best  possible  development,  the  breeder  is  more  careful  than 
the  average  farmer  is  to  provide  abundant  pasture  and  all  the 
grain  that  the  birds  can  use  to  advantage.  Occasionally  several 
breeds  of  geese  are  kept  on  a  farm,  but  most  breeders  consider 
one  enough. 

GROWING  A  FEW  GEESE  ON  A  TOWN  LOT 

Old  geese  are  so  noisy  that  they  are  undesirable  inhabitants 
for  populous  places.  In  such  a  place  a  poultry  keeper  who  wants 
to  grow  a  few  geese  often  finds  it  satisfactory  to  buy  eggs  for 
hatching  and  either  dispose  of  the  goslings  as  green  geese  when 
three  months  old  or  eat  one  as  he  wants  it  until  all  are  gone. 
The  only  difference  in  handling  goslings  in  close  quarters  and 
on  farms  is  in  the  method  of  providing  the  green  food.  On  the 
farms  the  birds  graze  ;  on  the  town  lot  they  must  be  fed  very 
abundantly  with  succulent  food.  They  will  eat  almost  any  vege- 
table leaf  that  is  young  and  not  too  tough,  and  they  should 
have  such  food  almost  constantly  before  them.  Most  people  who 
try  to  grow  geese  in  a  small  space  injure  them  by  feeding  too 
much  grain.  If  they  have  had  no  experience  in  this  line,  they 
suppose,  quite  naturally,  that  birds  so  much  alike  as  the  goose 
and  the  duck,  both  in  outward  appearance  and  in  the  texture  and 
flavor  of  the  flesh,  require  the  same  diet.  When  we  compare  the 
duck,  which  lives  so  largely  on  grain  and  meat,  with  the  goose, 
which  makes  greater  growth  in  the  same  period  on  grass  alone, 
we  can  begin  to  appreciate  what  large  quantities  of  bulky  green 
food  the  goose  needs  to  accomplish  so  remarkable  a  result. 

While  the  growing  of  geese  in  bare  yards  is  not  recommended 
as  a  paying  venture,  every  one  interested  in  poultry  should  grow 
a  few  occasionally  for  observation. 


178  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

GROWING  WILD  GEESE  IN  CAPTIVITY 

Wild  geese  mate  in  pairs.  If  they  are  to  be  bred  successfully 
in  captivity,  they  must  have  a  place  away  from  other  animals, 
where  they  will  not  be  disturbed.  They  will  be  more  contented 
if  located  near  a  small  pool  or  stream.  A  pair  of  wild  geese 
is  usually  kept  during  the  breeding  season  in  a  small,  isolated 
inclosure  containing  a  permanent  water  supply.  Here  the  female 
will  make  her  nest,  lay  her  eggs,  and  hatch  her  brood.  The  male 
at  this  period  is  very  savage  and  will  vigorously  resent  any  inter- 
ference with  his  mate.  Most  wild  geese  in  captivity  lay  but  a  few 
eggs,  and  the  broods  hatched  are  small.  There  are  seldom  more 
than  five  or  six  goslings  in  a  brood.  After  the  young  are  hatched, 
the  parents  may  be  allowed  to  leave  the  inclosure  with  them. 


CHAPTER  X 

TURKEYS 

The  turkey  is  commonly  considered  the  best  of  birds  for  the 
table,  the  most  desirable  for  any  festive  occasion,  and  quite  in- 
dispensable on  Thanksgiving  Day.  It  is  the  largest  bird  grown 
for  its  flesh.  As  usually  found  in  the  markets,  geese  and  turkeys 
are  of  about  the  same  weight,  because  most  people,  when  buying 
a  large  bird  for  the  table,  want  those  that,  when  dressed,  weigh 
about  ten  or  twelve  pounds  ;  but  the  largest  turkeys  are  con- 
siderably heavier  than  the  largest  geese,  and  the  proportion  of 
extra  large  birds  is  much  greater  among  turkeys. 

Description.  A  dressed  turkey  and  a  dressed  fowl  are  quite 
strikingly  alike  in  shape.  The  most  noticeable  difference  is  in 
the  breast,  which  is  usually  deeper  and  fuller  in  a  turkey.  The 
living  birds  are  distinctly  unlike  in  appearance,  the  carriage  of 
the  body  and  the  character  and  expression  of  the  head  of  the 
turkey  being  very  different  from  those  of  the  fowl.  The  head 
and  upper  part  of  the  neck  are  bare,  with  a  few  bristly  hairs. 
The  bare  skin  is  a  little  loose  on  the  head  and  very  much  looser 
on  the  neck,  forming  many  small  folds,  some  of  which  are  sac- 
like.  It  varies  in  color  from  a  livid  bluish-gray  to  brilliant  scarlet. 
An  elongated,  trunklike  extension  of  the  skin  at  the  juncture 
of  the  beak  with  the  head  takes  the  place  of  the  comb  in  the 
fowl.  There  is  a  single  wattle  under  the  throat,  not  pendent 
from  the  jaw,  as  in  the  fowl,  but  attached  to  the  skin  of  the 
neck.  The  feathers  on  the  lower  part  of  the  neck  are  short,  and 
the  plumage  of  the  whole  body  is  closer  and  harder  than  that  of 
most  fowls.  The  wings  are  large.  The  tail  spreads  vertically  and 
is  usually  carried  in  a  drooping  position.  This,  with  the  shortness 

179 


l8o  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

of  the  feathers  of  the  neck,  makes  the  back  of  the  turkey 
convex.  The  usual  gait  of  the  bird  is  a  very  deliberate  walk. 

The  male  and  female  differ  conspicuously  in  so  many  points 
that  the  sex  of  an  adult  bird  is  distinguished  without  difficulty. 
As  a  rule  the  males  are  much  larger  than  the  females  of  the 
same  stock.  In  colored  varieties  the  males  are  more  strongly 
pigmented,  and  the  shades  of  color  in  them  are  more  pro- 
nounced. The  head  characters  of  the  male  are  much  more 
prominent  in  size  and  more  brilliant  in  color.  Both  sexes  have 
the  power  of  inflating  the  loose  appendages  of  the  head  and 
neck.  In  the  male  this  is  highly  developed  ;  in  the  female  only 
perceptible.  The  male  has  a  brushlike  tuft  of  coarse  hair  grow- 
ing from  the  upper  part  of  the  breast.  This  tuft,  called  the 
beard,  is  black  in  all  varieties.  The  female  is  usually  shy  and 
has  a  low,  plaintive  call.  The  male  challenges  attention  and 
often  struts  about  with  his  tail  elevated  and  spread  in  a  circle 
like  a  fan,  wings  trailing  on  the  ground,  the  feathers  all  over 
the  body  erected  until  he  looks  twice  his  natural  size,  and  at 
frequent  intervals  vociferously  uttering  his  peculiar  ' '  gobble- 
gobble-gobble."  The  male  turkey  has  short  spurs  like  those  of 
the  male  fowl. 

The  name  ttirkey  was  erroneously  given  in  England  when 
the  birds  were  first  known  there  and  it  was  supposed  that  they 
came  from  Turkey.  The  adult  male  is  called  a  turkey  cock,  also 
a  torn-turkey  (sometimes  simply  torn}  and  a  gobbler.  The  adult 
female  is  called  a  turkey  hen,  or  a  hen  turkey,  the  order  of  the 
terms  being  immaterial.  Young  turkeys  before  the  sex  can  be 
distinguished  are  variously  called  young  turkeys,  turkey  chicks, 
and  poults,  the  latter  being  considered  by  poultrymen  the  proper 
technical  name.  After  the  sex  can  be  distinguished,  the  terms 
cockerel  and  pullet  are  applied  to  turkeys  in  the  same  way 
as  to  fowls. 

Origin.  The  turkey  is  a  native  of  North  America.  Although 
not  as  widely  distributed  as  before  the  country  was  settled,  it  is 


TURKEYS  181 

still  found  wild  in  many  places.  It  was  domesticated  in  Mexico 
and  Central  America  long  before  the  discovery  of  the  New  World. 
Domesticated  stock  from  these  places  was  taken  to  Spain  and 
England  early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  was  soon  spread  all 
over  Europe.  The  domestic  stock  of  the  colonists  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada  came  from  Europe  with  the  other  kinds  of 
domestic  poultry.  It  is  probable  that  from  early  colonial  times 
the  domestic  stock  was  occasionally  crossed  by  wild  stock,  but 


FIG.  154.  Common  turkeys  on  a  New  England  farm 

we  have  no  information  about  such  crosses  until  after  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  From  the  earliest  published  statements  in  regard 
to  the  matter  it  would  appear  that  such  crosses  had  long  been 
common,  and  that  the  benefits  of  vigorous  wild  blood  were  ap- 
preciated by  the  farmers  of  that  time.  The  wild  turkey  is  about 
as  large  as  a  medium-sized  domestic  turkey  but,  being  very  close- 
feathered,  looks  smaller.  It  is  nearly  black,  and  the  bare  head 
and  neck  are  darker  in  color  than  in  most  domestic  birds. 

Common  turkeys.  The  turkey  is  not  so  well  adapted  to  do- 
mestication as  the  fowl,  duck,  and  goose.  Under  the  conditions 
to  which  they  have  usually  been  subjected  domestic  turkeys  have 


1 82  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

lost  much  of  the  vigor  of  the  wild  stock.  As  far  as  is  known, 
the  birds  taken  to  Europe  after  the  discovery  of  America  were 
black  or  nearly  black.  In  Europe  white  sports  appeared  and 
were  preserved,  and  the  colors  became  mixed  —  black,  white, 
gray  of  various  shades,  brown,  and  buff.  That  has  been  the 
character  of  most  flocks  in  this  country  until  quite  recent  times, 
and  many  such  flocks  are  still  found. 

Improved  varieties.  The  development  of  the  domestic  turkey 
is  unique  in  that  the  most  marked  improvement  in  domestic 
stocks  has  been  due  to  extensive  introductions  of  the  blood  of 
the  wild  race.  The  reason  for  this  is  indicated  in  the  statement 
in  the  preceding  paragraph,  in  regard  to  the  lack  of  adaptation 
of  the  turkey  to  the  ordinary  conditions  of  life  in  domestication. 
The  turkey  deteriorates  where  the  other  kinds  of  poultry  men- 
tioned would  improve.  So,  while  in  Europe  a  few  color  varieties 
were  made,  and  in  some  localities  both  there  and  in  America  local 
breeds  of  special  merit  arose,  on  the  whole  the  domestic  stocks 
were  degenerate.  The  distinct  color  varieties  were  the  Black, 
the  White,  and  the  Gray,  but  by  no  means  all  turkeys  of  these 
colors  were  well-bred  birds.  The  color  varieties  were  crudely 
made  by  the  preference  of  breeders  in  a  certain  locality  for  a 
particular  color.  They  were  impure  and  often  produced  speci- 
mens of  other  colors  because  of  the  occasional  use  of  breeding 
birds  unlike  the  flock.  In  early  times  it  was  the  almost  universal 
opinion  that  crossbred  stock  had  more  vitality  than  pure-bred 
stock.  Hence  farmers,  although  preferring  a  certain  type  of 
animal,  would  often  make  an  outcross  to  an  entirely  different 
type,  and  then  by  selection  go  back  to  the  type  of  their  prefer- 
ence. When  this  mode  of  breeding  is  adopted,  undesirable  colors 
may  appear  for  many  years  after  a  bird  of  a  foreign  variety  has 
been  used  in  breeding. 

The  local  European  breeds  that  gained  a  wide  reputation 
were  the  Black  Norfolk,  the  Cambridgeshire  Bronze,  and  the 
White  Holland.  Black  and  White  turkeys  were  perhaps  quite 


TURKEYS  183 

as  popular  and  as  well  established  in  other  places  as  in  those 
mentioned.  Black  turkeys  were  the  most  common  kind  in  Spain 
and  in  some  parts  of  France.  In  some  other  parts  of  France, 
and  in  parts  of  Germany  and  Austria,  White  turkeys  were  the 
most  numerous,  but  in  general  the  turkeys  of  Europe  and 
America  were  of  various  colors,  with  gray  predominating. 

In  the  United  States  a  local  breed  of  very  good  quality  was 
developed  in  Rhode  Island  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 
It  appears  to  have  been  known  at  first  as  the  Point  Judith  Bronze 
Turkey,  and  also  as  the  Narragansett  Turkey,  but  the  first  name 
was  soon  dropped  and  has  long  been  forgotten  by  all  but  those 
familiar  with  the  early  literature.  The  Narragansett  Turkey  was 
not  bronze  as  the  term  is  now  applied  to  turkeys  ;  it  was  a  dark, 
brownish-gray,  which  is  doubtless  the  reason  why  the  name  was 
changed  after  the  distinctly  bronze  turkeys  became  well  known. 
Although  the  Narragansett  Turkey  is  described  in  the  American 
Standard,  and  prizes  are  still  offered  for  it  at  some  shows,  the 
type  has  almost  disappeared. 

Bronze  turkeys.  The  accidental  crossing  of  wild  with  tame 
turkeys  produced,  in  the  domestic  flocks  where  such  crosses  oc- 
curred, many  specimens  of  exceptional  size  and  vigor,  in  which 
the  blending  of  the  colors  of  the  wild  turkey  with  the  gray  of 
the  domestic  birds  gave  rise  to  a  very  beautiful  type  of  colora- 
tion. It  was  neither  black  nor  brown  nor  gray,  but  contained  all 
these  shades  and  had  an  iridescent  bronze  sheen.  As  the  crosses 
which  produced  these  were  only  occasional,  the  wild  blood  being 
reduced  in  each  generation  removed  from  it,  the  bronze  type 
was  usually  soon  merged  with  and  lost  in  the  common  type. 
As  the  wild  birds  became  scarce,  crosses  were  rare,  and  what 
improvement  had  been  accidentally  made  was  in  danger  of  be- 
ing lost,  when  the  awakening  of  interest  in  all  kinds  of  poultry 
stirred  turkey  growers  to  more  systematic  efforts  for  the  im- 
provement of  domestic  stock  by  crossing  with  the  wild  stock. 
Those  who  were  able  to  do  so  captured  wild  birds  and  bred 


1 84 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


them  in  captivity,  producing  both  pure  wild  and  half-wild  stock. 
They  also  secured  the  eggs  of  wild  birds  and  hatched  and  reared 
the  young  with  tame  hens.  With  wild  stock  under  control,  they 
were  able  to  use  as  much  wild  blood  as  they  desired  in  their 

flocks,  and  soon 
fixed  and  improved 
the  bronze  type 
until  they  had 
a  variety  of  tur- 
keys that  were 
extremely  hardy, 
larger  than  the 
wild  race  or  any 
domestic  stock  that 
had  hitherto  been 
produced,  and  also 
more  attractive  in 
color.  The  name 
"  Bronze  "  was 
soon  applied  ex- 
clusively to  this 
type  of  turkey 
in  America.  In 
England  they  are 
called  American 
Bronze,  to  distin- 
guish them  from 
the  Cambridge 
Bronze,  which 
seems  to  be  very  nearly  a  duplicate  of  the  Narragansett. 

The  evolution  of  the  Bronze  Turkey  in  America  is  one  of 
the  most  interesting  things  in  poultry  culture.  The  work  was 
done  on  a  very  large  scale.  It  was  not  just  a  few  breeders 
that  engaged  in  grading  up  domestic  turkeys  with  wild  blood, 


FIG.  155.  White  Holland  Turkey  cock.   (Photograph 
by  E.  J.  Hall) 


TURKEYS 


185 


but  a  great  many  scattered  all  over  the  country.  Many,  re- 
mote from  places  where  wild  turkeys  ranged,  paid  high  prices 
for  full-blooded  wild  males,  and  also  for  grades  with  a  large 
proportion  of  wild  blood.  In  this  way  the  wild  blood  was  very 
widely  distributed.  As  the  superiority  of  the  bronze  type  be- 
came established,  turkey  growers  everywhere  bought  Bronze 
males  to  head  their  flocks,  and  so  in  a  remarkably  short  time 


FIG.  156.  Flock  of  White  Holland  Turkeys 

Bronze  Turkeys  of  a  type  much  superior  to  the  old  domestic 
stock  became  the  common  turkeys  in  many  districts. 

Interest  in  the  American  Bronze  Turkey  arose  in  England 
at  a  very  early  stage  of  this  development.  In  fact,  there  is  some 
reason  to  believe  that  the  publicity  given  to  several  early  ship- 
ments of  small  lots  of  wild  turkeys  to  France  and  England 
did  more  than  anything  else  to  direct  the  attention  of  breeders 
in  this  country  to  the  value  of  systematic  breeding  to  fix  the 
characters  which  wild  blood  introduced.  The  most  celebrated 


186 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


of  these  shipments  was  one  taken  to  France  by  Lafayette  on 
his  return  from  his  last  visit  to  the  United  States  in  1825. 
About  this  time,  or  earlier,  an  English  nobleman,  who  had 


FIG.  157.  Bronze  Turkey  cock.    (Photograph  by  E.  J.  Hall) 

some  American  wild  turkeys,  presented  his  sovereign  with  a 
very  fine  horse.  The  king,  instead  of  expressing  pleasure  with 
the  gift,  intimated  that  he  would  prefer  some  of  the  wild  turkeys, 


TURKEYS  187 

and  was  accordingly  presented  with  a  pair.  The  use  of  wild  blood 
to  give  greater  vigor  to  domestic  stock  continues,  though  it  gives 
no  better  results  now  than  the  use  of  vigorous  Bronze  Turkeys 
many  generations  removed  from  wild  ancestry. 

Influence  of  the  Bronze  Turkey  on  other  varieties.  Although 
White  turkeys  have  long  been  very  popular  in  some  parts  of 
Europe,  in  this  country  they  were,  until  recently,  considered 
too  weak  to  be  desirable  for  any  but  those  who  kept  them  as  a 
hobby.  By  chance  mixtures  of  Bronze  and  White  turkeys,  and 
in  some  instances  by  systematic  breeding,  white  turkeys  that 
were  large  and  vigorous  were  produced.  Some  of  these  were 
large  enough  to  be  called  mammoths,  as  the  largest  Bronze 
Turkeys  were.  A  few  breeders  who  had  these  big  white  turkeys 
advertised  them  as  Mammoth  White  Turkeys  produced  by  Mam- 
moth Bronze  Turkeys  as  sports  and  in  no  way  related  to  the 
old,  weakly  white  birds.  But  whatever  may  have  been  the  case  at 
the  outset,  in  a  few  years  the  Mammoth  Whites  were  so  mixed 
with  others  that  the  distinction  was  lost,  for  the  best  buyers  of 
superior  white  turkeys  were  those  who  liked  the  color  and  had 
inferior  stock  which  they  wished  to  improve.  All  white  turkeys 
in  America  now  go  by  the  old  name,  "  White  Holland  Turkeys." 

Yellow  or  buff  turkeys  were  often  seen  among  the  old  com- 
mon turkeys.  They  were  usually  small  and  very  poor  in  color. 
The  mixture  of  bronze  turkeys  with  these  birds  occasionally 
produced  larger  birds  of  a  darker,  more  reddish  buff  but  very 
uneven  in  color,  with  the  tail  and  wings  nearly  white.  From 
such  birds,  by  careful  breeding,  a  dark  red  race  with  white 
wings  and  tail  was  made.  This  variety  is  called  the  Bourbon 
Red,  from  Bourbon  County,  Kentucky,  where  it  originated. 

Other  varieties  of  the  turkey.  The  only  other  variety  worthy 
of  mention  here  is  the  Slate  Turkey.  Birds  of  this  color  are 
often  seen  in  mixed  flocks.  Some  of  very  good  size  and  color 
have  been  bred  for  exhibition,  and  the  Slate  Turkey  in  America 
is  classed  as  a  distinct  variety. 


1 88  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

Place  of  the  turkey  in  domestication.  In  discussing  the 
history  of  the  turkey  in  domestication  much  has  been  said  of 
the  influence  of  conditions  on  the  type  and  on  the  vitality  of  this 
bird.  The  case  of  the  turkey  is  peculiar,  because  it  seems  as 
capable  of  being  tamed  as  the  fowl,  the  goose,  or  the  duck,  yet 
does  not  thrive  under  the  conditions  in  which  it  would  grow 
tame.  It  is  peculiarly  sensitive  to  the  effects  of  soil  which  has 


FIG.  158.   Bourbon  Red  Turkeys.    (Photograph  from  owner,  C.  \V.  Jones, 
Holmdel,  New  Jersey) 

been  contaminated  by  the  excrement  of  animals,  and  so  instinc- 
tively avoids  feeding  places  on  which  other  animals  are  numerous. 
Thus  it  requires  a  large  range  and,  if  permitted  to  follow  its  incli- 
nation, spends  most  of  its  time  at  a  distance  from  the  homestead. 
The  successful  growing  of  turkeys  depends  upon  the  watchfulness 
of  the  caretaker  and  the  absence  of  their  natural  enemies.  This 
will  appear  more  clearly  when  the  methods  of  managing  them 
are  described  in  the  next  chapter.  Turkey  culture  is  not  well 
adapted  to  the  more  intensive  methods  of  farming  which  become 


TURKEYS  189 

necessary  after  the  first  fertility  of  the  land  has  been  exhausted. 
Hence  the  turkey  has  almost  disappeared  from  many  places 
where  turkey  growing  was  once  an  industry  of  considerable  im- 
portance. The  farms  of  the  Central  West  and  the  mountain 
regions  of  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee 
have  for  many  years  produced  most  of  the  turkeys  consumed 
in  this  country,  but  the  changing  conditions  in  these  regions 
seem  unfavorable  to  the  increase  of  turkey  culture.  Attempts 
to  grow  turkeys  on  a  large  scale  have  been  made  on  the  Pacific 
coast.  While  these  may  succeed  for  a  time,  turkey  culture  in 
this  country  is  likely  to  decline  rapidly  unless  changes  in  eco- 
nomic conditions  afford  cheaper  labor  on  farms,  or  unless  the 
natural  enemies  of  poultry  are  so  reduced  that  flocks  of  turkeys 
may  be  kept  in  a  half-wild  state. 


CHAPTER  XI 

MANAGEMENT  OF  TURKEYS 

The  turkey  is  almost  exclusively  a  farm  product.  It  is  possible 
to  grow  a  few  good  turkeys  in  confinement,  but  this  is  rarely 
done  except  in  experimental  work  or  by  persons  who  grow  a 
few  for  amusement  and  for  an  opportunity  to  study  some  of  their 
characteristics.  A  few  adult  turkeys  may  be  kept  on  a  small  farm 
and  remain  about  the  homestead  as  other  poultry  does.  The 
turkeys  themselves  may  get  along  very  well,  but  they  are  likely 
to  abuse  the  fowls,  and  as  they  can  easily  fly  over  any  ordinary 
fence,  they  cannot  be  controlled  except  by  putting  them  in 
covered  yards.  Turkeys  kept  under  such  conditions  cause  so 
much  trouble  that,  after  the  novelty  of  watching  them  has  worn 
off,  the  owner  soon  disposes  of  them.  It  is  where  the  farms  are 
large  and  there  is  a  great  deal  of  woodland  and  pasture  through 
which  the  turkeys  may  roam  without  strict  regard  to  farm  bound- 
aries, and  large  grain  and  grass  fields  where  they  can  forage  after 
the  crops  are  removed,  that  turkeys  in  large  numbers  are  grown 
for  market  with  good  profit.  On  such  farms,  too,  the  farmer,  if 
he  is  a  good  breeder,  can  produce  the  finest  exhibition  specimens. 

Size  of  flocks.  The  number  of  turkeys  kept  on  a  farm  for 
breeding  usually  depends  upon  the  number  of  young  it  is  desired 
to  rear,  but  the  difficulty  of  keeping  more  than  one  adult  male 
with  the  flock  tends  to  restrict  the  annual  production  to  what  can 
be  reared  from  one  male.  Experience  has  taught  that  it  is  not 
advisable  to  have  more  than  ten  or  twelve  females  with  one  male. 
Sometimes  a  much  larger  number  is  kept  with  one  gobbler,  and 
the  eggs  hatch  well  and  produce  thrifty  poults  ;  oftener  an  ex- 
cess of  females  is  responsible  for  poor  results  which  the  breeder 

190 


MANAGEMENT  OF  TURKEYS  191 

attributes  to  other  causes.  The  average  hen  turkey  lays  only 
eighteen  or  twenty  eggs  in  the  spring.  Some  hens  lay  even  less. 
Once  in  a  long  time  a  turkey  hen  lays  continuously  for  many 
months.  A  turkey  grower  who  raises  eight  or  ten  turkeys  for 
each  hen  in  his  breeding  flock  does  very  well.  To  do  much  better 
than  this  the  hatches  must  be  exceptionally  good  and  the  losses 
very  light.  Those  who  grow  turkeys  for  profit  expect  them  to 
pick  the  most  of  their  living  from  the  time  they  are  a  few  weeks 
old  until  they  are  ready  to  fatten  for  market.  A  grower  will, 
therefore,  rarely  undertake  to  hatch  more  young  turkeys  than  he 
thinks  can  find  food  on  the  available  range.  It  takes  a  very  large 
farm  to  provide  food  for  a  hundred  young  turkeys  and  the  old 
birds  which  produced  them,  after  the  young  ones  are  well  started. 
On  many  large  farms  where  turkeys  are  grown  regularly,  not 
more  than  seventy  or  eighty  are  ever  hatched,  and  if  losses  are 
heavy,  not  more  than  two  or  three  dozen  may  be  reared.  A 
farmer  who  grows  from  seventy  to  a  hundred  turkeys  is  in  the 
business  on  a  relatively  large  scale.  Flocks  of  larger  size  are 
sometimes  seen  in  the  fall,  but  not  very  often.  The  ordinary 
farm  flock  of  breeding  turkeys  rarely  has  less  than  three  or  four 
or  more  than  ten  or  twelve  hens. 

Shelters  and  yards.  The  wild  turkey  living  in  the  woods, 
with  only  such  shelter  from  the  rigors  of  Northern  winters  as  the 
trees  afford,  is  perfectly  hardy.  Domestic  turkeys  are  most  thrifty 
when  they  roost  high  in  the  open  air  yet  are  not  fully  exposed 
to  storms  and  cold  winds.  If  left  to  themselves  they  usually 
select  convenient  trees  near  the  farm  buildings,  or  mount  to 
the  ridge  of  a  shed  or  a  barn,  or  perch  on  a  high  fence.  A  high 
perch  to  which  they  can  mount  by  a  succession  of  easy  flights 
has  such  an  attraction  for  them  that  it  is  a  common  practice 
to  place  strong  perches  between  trees  that  are  near  together, 
or  on  tall,  stout  poles  set  for  the  purpose,  where  other  trees 
or  buildings  form  a  windbreak.  The  turkeys,  if  at  home,  will 
not  fail  to  go  to  such  a  roost  as  night  approaches.  One  of  the 


192 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


most  important  tasks  of  the  person  who  has  charge  of  a  flock 
of  turkeys  is  to  see  that  the  flock  is  at  home  before  nightfall. 

After  they  begin  to  roost,  young  turkeys  need  no  shelter  in  the 
spring  and  summer.  When  chilly  nights  come  in  the  fall,  late- 
hatched  turkeys  may  do  better  housed  than  in  the  open.  Tur- 
keys that  are  well  grown  and  fully  feathered  do  not  need  to  be 
under  cover  in  the  winter  except  in  protracted  or  very  severe 
storms.  Turkey  growers  who  wish  to  have  the  birds  partially 


FIG.  159.  House  and  yards  for  stock  turkeys  on  a  California  ranch.    (Photo- 
graph from  the  Bureau  of  Animal   Industry,  United   States   Department 
of  Agriculture) 

under  control,  and  want  to  be  able  to  catch  any  one  when  they 
need  it,  often  have  the  birds  roost  in  a  shed  or  other  outbuilding 
available  for  the  purpose.  Such  places  should  be  very  well  ven- 
tilated, or  the  turkeys  will  become  soft  and  take  colds. 

Yards  are  made  for  turkeys  only  to  enable  the  person  in 
charge  of  them  to  keep  them  under  control  when  necessary. 
The  principal  uses  of  the  yards  are  to  confine  the  hens  at  the 
laying  season  and  to  separate  birds  from  the  general  flock  when 
there  is  any  occasion  for  this.  A  great  deal  of  trouble  is  some- 
times saved  by  having  a  small  yard  for  such  purposes.  The 


MANAGEMENT  OF  TURKEYS  193 

height  of  fence  required  depends  on  the  size'  and  weight  of  the 
turkeys  and  also  upon  whether  they  are  in  the  habit  of  flying. 
A  turkey  that  is  not  accustomed  to  fly  may  not  attempt  to  go 
over  a  fence  four  or  five  feet  high  that  has  no  top  upon  which 
it  could  alight.  The  same  bird,  when  confined  in  a  strange  place, 
might,  without  hesitation,  fly  to  a  roof  twice  as  high,  because, 
although  not  in  the  habit  of  flying,  it  has  the  power  to  fly  such 
a  distance  and  can  see  that  the  roof  offers  a  suitable  place  for 
alighting.  A  turkey  in  the  habit  of  flying  over  obstacles  will 
often  go  over  a  fence  six  or  seven  feet  high  without  touching. 
A  turkey  hen  that  is  laying  will  not  fly  as  freely  as  one  that 
is  not,  because  the  weight  and  bulk  of  the  eggs  in  her  body 
encumber  her  movements.  For  this  reason  a  five-foot  fence  is 
usually  high  enough  for  a  yard  for  breeding  stock,  if  they  are 
to  be  confined  to  it  only  as  much  as  is  necessary  in  order  to 
make  sure  that  the  hens  will  lay  at  home. 

Feeding.  The  natural  diet  of  the  turkey,  like  that  of  all  birds 
of  the  order  of  Scratchers,  consists  of  a  variety  of  vegetable  and 
animal  foods.  Turkeys  eat  the  same  things  that  fowls  eat,  and 
apparently  in  about  the  same  proportions,  but  their  foraging 
habits  are  quite  different.  The  disposition  of  the  fowl  is  to  dig 
for  its  food  wherever  it  appears  that  anything  is  to  be  had  by 
scratching.  The  turkey  will  scratch  a  little,  but  it  prefers  to 
wander  over  the  land,  picking  up  the  food  that  is  in  sight.  Fowls 
will  forage  from  their  house  to  the  limits  of  their  usual  range 
and  return  many  times  in  the  course  of  a  day.  A  flock  of 
turkeys,  if  allowed  to  do  so,  leaves  its  roosting  place  in  the 
morning  and  makes  a  wide  circuit,  often  returning  home  in 
the  afternoon  from  a  direction  nearly  opposite  to  the  direction 
they  took  in  the  morning.  On  their  circuit,  which  is  likely 
to  follow  the  same  course  day  after  day,  turkeys  have  their 
favorite  feeding  and  resting  places.  Persons  familiar  with  the 
route  of  a  flock  can  tell  where  they  are  likely  to  be  found  at  any 
hour  of  the  day.  If  food  becomes  scarce  on  their  circuit,  the 


194  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

turkeys  extend  it,  or  go  on  an  exploring  expedition  which  takes 
them  a  long  way  from  home.  If  night  overtakes  them  at  a 
distance  from  home,  they  look  for  a  convenient  roosting  place 
and  remain  there. 

The  feeding  habits  of  the  turkey  make  it  especially  valuable 
for  destroying  grasshoppers  and  other  insects  that  damage  field 
crops.  To  get  an  adequate  idea  of  the  great  quantities  of  insects 


FIG.  1 60.  Turkey  roost  in  shelter  of  barn  on  a  Rhode  Island  farm 

destroyed  by  a  flock  of  turkeys,  and  of  the  waste  food  that  they 
save  and  turn  to  profit  by  eating  it,  one  should  take  careful 
note  of  the  amount  of  food  consumed  when  the  turkeys  are 
fed  all  that  they  can  eat  at  one  time  (as  when  they  are  be- 
ing fattened),  and  from  this  compute  the  amount  that  a  flock 
must  pick  in  order  to  live,  as  many  flocks  do,  from  spring 
until  fall  almost  wholly  upon  what  they  get  by  foraging.  Tur- 
keys are  much  more  systematic  foragers  than  fowls,  working 
more  in  concert.  A  flock  advances  in  an  irregular  yet  orderly 


MANAGEMENT  OF  TURKEYS  195 

formation,  taking  all  the  choice  food  in  its  way,  but  not  often 
tempted  to  side  excursions  which  would  disperse  the  flock. 

Many  people  who  keep  turkeys  make  a  practice  of  feeding  a 
little  grain,  usually  corn,  in  the  evening  as  an  inducement  to 
them  to  come  home.  When  they  require  more  food,  they  may 
be  given  whatever  is  fed  to  the  fowls.  Indeed,  unless  some 
arrangement  is  made  by  which  the  fowls  and  turkeys  are  fed 
separately,  the  turkeys  may  get  the  habit  of  being  on  hand 
when  the  fowls  are  fed,  and  drive  them  from  the  food.  This, 
however,  is  most  likely  to  happen  when  the  range  for  the  tur- 
keys is  so  restricted  that  it  does  not  afford  good  picking. 

Breeding  season  and  laying  habits.  Experienced  growers  of 
turkeys  like  to  get  their  young  turkeys  hatched  about  the  time 
when  settled  weather  may  be  expected  in  the  spring.  Little 
turkeys  are  less  rugged  than  little  chickens,  and  are  very  sensi- 
tive to  cold,  damp  weather.  Although  the  hens  may  have  been 
very  domestic  all  winter,  when  they  begin  to  lay  they  develop 
more  of  a  roving  disposition  than  is  at  all  satisfactory  to  their 
keeper.  They  are  very  likely  to  want  to  hide  their  nests.  When 
this  is  the  case,  and  there  is  no  yard  in  which  they  may  be  con- 
fined, they  make  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  They  often  go  a  long 
way  from  home  to  find  places  for  their  nests,  and  make  such 
wide  circuits,  and  double  on  their  tracks  so  often  in  going  and 
returning,  that  the  nests  are  very  hard  to  find.  There  is  nothing 
to  do  in  such  cases  but  to  confine  the  turkey  or  to  follow  her 
day  after  day  until  the  nest  is  found.  If  she  is  to  be  confined, 
it  should  be  done  as  soon  as  she  indicates  that  she  does  not  in- 
tend to  take  one  of  the  nests  provided  or  to  make  one  at  home. 
When,  in  spite  of  efforts  to  prevent  it,  a  turkey  hen  makes  a  nest 
at  a  distance  and  has  laid  some  eggs  in  it  before  the  nest  is  dis- 
covered, it  is  best  to  allow  her  to  continue  to  lay  there,  but  the 
eggs  should  be  removed  as  soon  as  laid.  The  egg  of  a  turkey  is 
about  twice  as  large  as  a  hen's  egg.  The  usual  color  is  a  light, 
slightly  bluish,  brown,  with  small  spots  of  a  darker  shade. 


196 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


Hatching  and  rearing.  Turkey  eggs  are  often  incubated  by 
fowls.  A  fowl  will  hatch  the  eggs  just  as  well  as  a  turkey  hen, 
and  may  make  as  good  a  mother  for  a  few  turkeys  grown  on  a 
small  place.  For  young  turkeys  grown  on  the  farm,  turkey  hens 
make  the  best  mothers,  because  they  take  them  to  better  foraging 
ground  and  remain  with  them  all  the  season.  It  is  a  good  plan, 
especially  when  there  are  more  turkey  eggs  than  the  turkey  hens 
can  cover,  to  set  some  fowls  on  the  surplus  eggs  at  the  same 
time  that  the  turkey  hens  are  set.  Then,  as  there  will  rarely  be 

a  full  hatch  from  all 
nests,  the  young  turkeys 
hatched  by  the  fowls  will 
fill  up  the  broods  of  the 
turkey  mothers.  A  fowl 
will  cover  from  seven  to 
nine  turkey  eggs.  As  a 
rule  it  is  better  to  give 
the  smaller  number.  A 
turkey  hen  will  cover 
from  twelve  to  fifteen 
of  her  own  eggs,  or  even 
a  larger  number,  but  the 
young  turkeys  will  be 

stronger  if  the  nest  is  not  too  full.  The  period  of  incubation  is 
four  weeks.  Even  when  normally  strong  and  healthy,  little  tur- 
keys appear  weak  in  comparison  with  lively  young  chickens  and 
ducks  or  the  more  bulky  goslings.  They  may  be  fed  the  same 
as  young  chickens. 

It  is  the  common  practice  to  confine  the  mother  to  a  coop 
from  which  the  little  turkeys  can  go  to  a  small  pen  placed  in 
front  of  it.  The  pen  may  be  made  of  wide  boards  placed  on 
edge,  or  of  light  frames  covered  with  one-inch-mesh  wire  netting. 
The  coop  and  pen  should  be  moved  before  the  grass  becomes 
much  trampled  and  soiled.  The  little  turkeys  can  be  kept  in 


FIG.  161.   Sheltered  turkey  nest.    (Photograph 

from  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  United 

States  Department  of  Agriculture) 


MANAGEMENT  OF  TURKEYS 


197 


such  an  inclosure  for  only  about  a  week  or  ten  days.  As  they  in- 
crease in  size,  and  as  their  wings  grow,  they  fly  over  low  obstacles 
as  easily  and  naturally  as  little  chickens  scratch  or  as  little  ducks 
swim.  Having  once  flown  out  of  the  pen,  they  cannot  be  kept 
in  it  or  in  any  inclosure  that  has  not  a  high  fence  or  a  cover. 
When  only  two  weeks  old,  little  Bronze  Turkeys  have  been  seen 
flying  to  the  top  of  a  five-foot  fence  and,  after  a  few  efforts, 
reaching  it  with  seeming  ease.  No  matter  how  contented  old 
turkeys  that  produced  them  may  have  been  in  confinement, 
young  turkeys  become  restless  as  soon  as  their  wings  and  legs 
are  strong,  and,  unless  prevented  from  doing  so,  will  begin 
to  roam  long  dis- 
tances. They  do  not 
wait  for  the  mother, 
whether  fowl  or  tur- 
key, to  take  the  initi- 
ative and  lead  them. 
If  she  is  not  dis- 
posed to  rove,  they 
start  and  let  her 
follow.  A  turkey 
hen  quickly  catches 


FIG.  162.  Turkey  brood  coop.    (Photograph  from 

the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  United  States 

Department  of  Agriculture) 


their  spirit  and  goes  with  them  and  keeps  them  together  ;  a  fowl 
is  likely  to  follow  them  reluctantly,  allow  them  to  scatter,  and 
lose  a  part  of  the  brood. 

When  the  little  turkeys  have  reached  this  stage,  the  best 
plan  of  managing  them  depends  upon  circumstances.  If  there 
is  little  danger  of  enemies  disturbing  them,  they  may  be  given 
a  light  feed  in  the  morning  and  then  allowed  to  forage  where 
they  please,  the  person  in  charge  looking  occasionally  to  see 
that  they  do  not  go  too  far  and,  if  necessary,  bringing  them 
back  or  starting  them  off  in  another  direction.  In  case  of  a 
sudden,  hard  shower  the  turkeys  must  be  looked  up,  and  if  any 
have  been  caught  out  in  the  rain  and  have  been  chilled  and 


198  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

wet,  they  should  be  warmed  and  dried  at  once.  The  usual  way 
to  do  this  is  to  wrap  the  bird  in  a  piece  of  old  flannel  and 
place  it  in  an  oven  at  a  temperature  of  about  100  degrees,  or 
near  a  stove.  If  this  is  done  promptly,  a  bird  that  seemed  to 
be  nearly  dead  from  wet  and  cold  may  be  running  about  as 
well  as  ever  in  an  hour.  A  large  part  of  the  losses  of  little 
turkeys  is  due  to  lack  of  attention  in  matters  of  this  kind, 
or  to  delaying  it  until  the  injury  cannot  be  fully  repaired. 


FIG.  163.   Turkey  hen  with  brood.    (Photograph  from  the  Bureau  of 
Animal  Industry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

After  the  young  turkeys  are  five  or  six  weeks  old,  they  do  not 
need  such  close  watching.  They  are  now  so  well  feathered  that 
their  plumage  sheds  rain,  and  if  they  are  thrifty,  a  little  wetting 
will  not  hurt  them.  It  is  at  this  age  that  the  symptoms  of  the 
disease  called  blackhead  begin  to  appear,  if  it  is  present,  and 
the  turkeys  pine  away  and  die  one  by  one.  Blackhead  is  a  con- 
tagious liver  disease  which  affects  fowls  as  well  as  turkeys,  but 
is  most  fatal  to  young  turkeys,  because  it  is  a  filth  disease ; 


200  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

as  has  been  said,  turkeys  are  especially  sensitive  to  foul  con- 
ditions, and  the  young  of  all  kinds  of  poultry  are  more  sensitive 
to  such  conditions  than  the  adults.  The  germs  of  the  disease 
pass  into  the  soil  with  the  excrement  of  affected  birds  and  may 
remain  there  for  several  years.  Young  birds  feeding  on  land 
containing  these  germs  may  take  up  some  with  their  food.  If 
the  birds  are  vigorous  and  thrifty  and  the  land  is  not  badly  in- 
fected, no  harm  may  be  done,  but  if  the  birds  are  weakly  and 
the  land  is  so  badly  infected  that  they  are  constantly  taking  up 
more  germs,  the  disease  soon  develops  in  acute  form. 

Many  people  suppose  that  if  once  they  have  serious  trouble 
with  this  disease,  it  is  useless  for  them  to  try  to  grow  turkeys,  but 
this  is  an  error.  The  germs  of  the  disease  are  distroyed  by  cul- 
tivating the  land  and  exposing  them  to  the  sun  and  air.  Three 
or  four  years  of  cultivation  will  rid  a  piece  of  land  of  disease 
germs,  no  matter  how  badly  it  is  affected.  The  infection  is  not 
usually  distributed  in  dangerous  quantities  all  over  a  farm  or  all 
over  the  land  on  which  the  turkeys  and  fowls  have  ranged.  It 
is  principally  on  the  land  near  the  farm  buildings.  There  would 
be  very  little  danger  from  diseases  of  this  kind  on  farms  if  those 
who  feed  the  poultry  would  make  it  a  practice  to  scatter  food  on 
clean  grass  or  cultivated  ground  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
buildings,  instead  of  giving  it  (as  too  many  do)  on  ground  that 
is  bare  year  after  year  and  never  cultivated. 

On  a  large  farm  the  turkeys  should  not  require  close  attention 
after  they  are  two  months  old.  A  little  food  may  be  given  to 
them  in  the  morning  and  again  in  the  evening,  to  keep  them 
familiar  with  the  person  in  charge,  and  if  they  are  inclined  to 
stray  too  far,  they  should  be  rounded  up  soon  after  noon  and 
started  toward  home.  Having  started  in  that  direction,  they  may 
be  left  to  come  at  their  leisure.  They  should  pick  the  most  of 
their  living  until  the  time  comes  to  begin  to  fatten  them.  Begin- 
ning about  three  weeks  before  they  are  to  be  killed,  they  should 
be  fed  two  or  three  times  a  day  all  the  whole  corn  they  will  eat. 


CHAPTER  XII 
GUINEAS 

Description.  The  guinea,  or  guinea  fowl,  is  about  the  size  of 
a  small  fowl.  It  is  very  much  like  the  fowl  in  some  respects 
but  not  at  all  like  it  in  some  others.  Naturalists  classify  it  in 
the  pheasant  family,  but  its  present  place  in  domestication  is  so 
different  from  that  of  the  pheasant  that  a  poultry  keeper  hardly 
ever  associates  them  in  his  thought.  In  appearance  the  guinea 
is  a  unique  bird.  The  shape  of  the  body  and  shape  of  the  head 
are  both  peculiar.  The  body  is  quite  plump,  the  back  nearly 
horizontal,  and  the  tail  short  and  much  depressed.  The  neck 
and  legs  are  rather  short.  The  feathers  of  the  neck  are  short, 
and  the  head  is  bare.  The  skin  of  the  head  and  face  is  a 
bluish-white.  The  bird  has  a  small,  knoblike  red  comb  and 
short,  stiff,  red  wattles  projecting  from  the  cheeks.  The  plumage 
of  the  body  is  quite  long,  loose,  and  soft,  and  lies  so  smoothly 
that  it  appears  much  shorter  and  closer  than  it  is. 

The  male  and  female  are  of  nearly  the  same  size,  and  so  like 
in  appearance  that  the  sex  cannot  be  distinguished  with  certainty 
by  any  external  character.  The  comb  and  wattles  of  the  male  are 
sometimes  conspicuously  larger  than  those  of  the  female,  but  this 
difference  is  not  regular.  Although  the  voices  of  the  male  and 
female  are  different,  the  difference  is  not  easily  described,  nor 
is  it  readily  detected  except  by  people  who  are  familiar  with  the 
birds,  and  whose  ears  are  trained  to  distinguish  the  different 
notes.  Both  sexes  make  a  rapid,  sharp,  clattering  sound,  and 
also  a  shrill  cry  of  two  notes.  The  cry  of  the  male  is  harsher 
and  has  a  more  aggressive  tone  ;  that  of  the  female  has  a  some- 
what plaintive  sound,  which  some  people  describe  as  like  the 
words  "  come  back,  come  back." 

201 


202  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

The  name  "  guinea  "  comes  from  the  country  of  Guinea  in 
Africa,  from  which  the  birds  were  introduced  into  America  and 
Western  Europe.  The  male  guinea  fowl  is  called  a  guinea  cock  ; 
the  female,  a  guinea  hen  ;  the  young,  guinea  chickens. 

Origin.  The  guinea  fowl  is  a  native  of  Africa.  It  is  said  that 
there  are  about  a  dozen  similar  species  on  that  continent.  This 
species  is  abundant  there  in  both  the  wild  and  the  domesticated 
state,  and  also  in  a  half -wild  state.  It  was  probably  brought  into 
partial  domestication  at  a  very  early  date,  for  it  was  known  to 
the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  as  well  as  to  the  early  civi- 
lized nations  of  Northern  Africa.  It  may  have  been  distributed 


FIG.  165.  White  guinea  fowls 


through  Western  Europe  by  the  Romans.  According  to  one 
account,  some  English  monks  had  guineas  in  the  thirteenth 
century.  It  is  likely  that  they  were  rare  in  Europe  at  that  time 
and  soon  disappeared,  for  the  modern  Europeans  had  never  seen 
them  until  they  were  taken  to  Europe  from  the  West  Indies, 
where,  it  is  said,  they  had  been  brought  by  slave  ships  from 
Africa.  There  is  a  tradition  that  the  first  guineas  in  America 
were  brought  direct  from  Africa  with  the  first  cargo  of  slaves 
from  that  continent.  In  the  West  Indies  and  in  South  America 
the  guinea,  after  its  introduction,  ran  wild.  The  natural  color 
of  the  species  is  a  bluish-gray  with  many  small,  round  white 
spots  on  each  feather.  On  the  flight  feathers  of  the  wings 
these  spots  are  so  placed  that  they  form  irregular  bars. 


GUINEAS  203 

Varieties.  The  only  change  that  has  taken  place  in  the 
guinea  in  domestication  is  the  production  of  color  varieties. 
White  sports  from  the  original  variety,  which  is  called  the  Pearl 
Guinea,  were  developed  as  a  distinct  variety.  Crosses  of  White 
and  Pearl  Guineas  produced  birds  with  white  on  the  neck,  the 
breast,  and  the  under  part  of  the  body.  These  are  called  Pied 
Guineas,  but  are  not  regarded  as  a  distinct  variety.  Birds  with 
the  original  white  markings  but  with  the  color  very  much  lighter 
and  sometimes  of  a  decidedly  reddish  tinge  have  also  been  pro- 
duced by  crossing.  These  are  not  considered  a  distinct  variety, 
but  are  sometimes  exhibited  as  such  under  the  name  of  "  Lav- 
ender Guineas."  Some  of  the  older  works  on  poultry  describe 
the  Self-Colored  Guinea,  a  gray  bird  without  white  spots,  and  the 
Netted  Guinea,  in  which  the  original  colors  are  reversed.  The 
author  has  never  seen  these  varieties,  nor  has  he  found  any 
mention  of  them  in  the  works  of  later  writers. 

Place  in  domestication.  The  guinea  is  as  eccentric  in  nature 
and  habits  as  it  is  unique  in  appearance.  It  is  an  ill-tempered 
bird,  very  pugnacious,  and  persistently  annoys  any  other  birds 
with  which  it  comes  in  contact.  While  inclined  to  be  shy  of  man 
and  to  resent  his  control,  it  likes  to  establish  itself  between  wild 
and  domestic  conditions,  where  it  is  independent  yet  enjoys  the 
safety  from  its  enemies  that  proximity  to  the  habitations  of  man 
affords.  The  hens  are  very  prolific  layers.  This  characteristic 
is  said  to  be  as  well  developed  in  the  wild  as  in  the  domestic 
stock.  Although  they  lay  so  well,  they  are  not  usually  con- 
sidered desirable  for  egg  production,  because  the  eggs  are  small 
and  it  is  hard  to  keep  the  birds  under  such  control  that  the  eggs 
are  easily  secured.  The  flesh  and  skin  of  the  guinea  are  quite 
dark  in  color.  The  dressed  carcass  is  not  at  all  attractive  in 
appearance,  but  the  meat  is  very  good.  Many  people  prefer  it 
to  the  flesh  of  the  fowl. 

The  guinea  is  not  really  a  domestic  bird.  It  is  possible  to 
keep  a  few  in  confinement  and  to  rear  the  young  with  other 


2O4 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


poultry,  but  the  adult  birds  are  so  noisy  and  vicious  that  very 
few  people  want  them  near  the  house  or  with  other  poultry. 
They  would  not  be  tolerated  as  much  as  they  are  but  for  the 
traditional  notion  that  their  noisy  clamor  keeps  hawks  away. 
Many  farmers  keep  a  few  guineas,  supposing  that  they  are  of 
service  in  this  way.  Those  who  have  tried  to  find  out  whether 
the  noise  of  the  guinea  really  has  any  effect  on  hawks  say  that 
the  hawks  are  just  as  bad  where  there  are  guineas  as  where 

there    are    none. 

The  only  way  that 
guineas  can  be  made 
profitable  is  by  treating 
them  as  half-wild  birds 
—letting  them  establish 
themselves  in  the  woods 
where  they  can  maintain 
themselves  —  and  then 
shooting  or  trapping  a 
part  of  the  flock  each 
season.  The  number  of 
guineas  now  produced 

FIG.  166.  White  guinea  hen  with  brood  jn  thig  way  ig  steadily  in_ 

creasing  in  many  parts  of  the  United  States  where  the  winters 
are  not  severe  and  where  wild  animals  which  prey  upon  game 
birds  are  kept  in  subjection. 

Management  of  domestic  guineas.  As  has  been  stated,  guineas 
are  so  hard  to  control  that  few  persons  try  to  keep  them  in  close 
quarters  or  where  they  must  have  particular  attention.  When  a 
few  birds  are  kept  on  a  farm,  they  are  usually  allowed  to  wander 
at  will ;  the  owner  secures  as  many  of  their  eggs  as  he  can  find 
before  they  spoil,  and  perhaps  hatches  a  few  of  them  under 
hens,  for  the  guinea  hens  often  lay  a  long  time  without  going 
broody.  As  they  are  prone  to  hide  their  nests  and  are  very  clever 
in  eluding  observation,  it  not  infrequently  happens  that,  when  a 


GUINEAS  205 

nest  is  found,  it  contains  a  great  many  eggs,  a  large  part  of 
which  have  been  spoiled  by  long  exposure  to  the  weather. 

The  first  care  of  the  breeder  of  these  birds  is  to  see  that  he 
has  suitable  proportions  of  males  and  females.  Guineas  are 
disposed  to  mate  in  pairs.  Some  poultry  keepers  who  have 
observed  them  closely  say  that  while  one  or  more  extra  females 
may  associate  with  a  pair,  the  eggs  of  the  extra  females  do  not 
usually  hatch  well.  Occasionally  it  happens  that  a  small  flock  are 
all  males  or  all  females,  and  the  owner  does  not  find  it  out  until 
too  late  in  the  season  to  get  a  bird  of  the  missing  sex.  When 
a  supposed  guinea  hen  does  not  lay  in  the  breeding  season,  the 
owner  often  thinks  that  she  lays  but  manages  to  completely 
baffle  his  search  for  the  nest. 

The  period  of  incubation  for  guinea  eggs  is  four  weeks.  The 
young  birds  may  be  managed  the  same  as  young  turkeys  while 
small,  but  do  not  need  as  close  watching  to  keep  them  from 
wandering  away.  Those  that  are  hatched  and  reared  by  fowls  are 
tamer  than  those  reared  by  guinea  hens,  but  are  not  so  hardy. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

PEAFOWLS 

The  peacock,  or  male  peafowl,  when  matured  and  in  full 
plumage,  is  the  most  gorgeous  of  birds.  Many  smaller  birds  are 
more  brilliant  in  color.  Many  birds  of  various  sizes  and  types 
have  beautiful  or  interesting  characters  as  attractive  as  those 
which  distinguish  the  peacock.  But  this  bird  surpasses  them 
all  in  attractiveness,  because  in  it  are  combined  in  the  highest 
degree  size,  beauty  of  form,  beauty  of  color,  and  the  power  of 
displaying  its  beauties  to  the  greatest  advantage. 

Description.  The  adult  peacock  is  so  much  more  striking  in 
appearance  than  the  females  and  the  young  males,  and  old  males 
are  so  often  exhibited  alone,  that  many  persons  suppose  that 
the  peafowl  are  distinctly  unlike  other  domestic  birds.  The 
size,  shape,  and  carriage  of  the  peacock  sometimes  suggest  to 
them  a  resemblance  to  the  turkey  gobbler,  but  the  peacock's 
most  striking  characters  seem  so  peculiar  to  it  that  the  atten- 
tion of  the  observer  is  usually  fixed  upon  them,  to  the  exclusion 
of  direct  comparisons  with  other  creatures.  When,  however, 
one  sees  a  flock  containing  several  females,  or  males  in  which 
the  characteristic  plumage  is  not  yet  developed,  the  general  re- 
semblance between  peafowl  and  turkeys  is  immediately  noticed. 
The  peafowl  is  smaller,  slenderer,  and  more  graceful  than  the 
turkey,  and  is  a  little  more  agile  in  motion.  But  if  there  were 
no  old  males  present  to  identify  the  species  to  which  they  be- 
long, a  person  who  was  not  familiar  with  peafowls,  seeing  a  flock 
for  the  first  time,  would  be  almost  certain  to  think  that  they  were 
turkeys  of  a  rare  breed.  Notwithstanding  this  striking  general 
likeness,  a  close  observer  will  soon  note  that  in  nearly  every 

206 


PEAFOWLS 


207 


conspicuous  character  the  differences  between  the  two  indicate 
that  they  belong  to  entirely  different  species.  The  voice  of  the 
peafowl  is  a  harsh,  piercing  scream. 

The  development  of  the  plumage  in  the  male  at  full  maturity 
is  like  that  of  the  fowl  and  of  some  pheasants.  In  all  of  these 
species  in  which  the  tail  of  the  male  assumes  a  highly  decorative 
form,  it  is  not  the  tail  proper  that  is  so  developed,  but  the  tail 
coverts  and  other  feathers  of  the  back,  which  in  the  male  are 
long  and  flowing.  In  the  peacock  these  feathers  are  very  re- 
markably developed,  both  in  form  and  in  color.  The  largest  are 


FIG.  167.  Indian  Peacock.    (Photograph  from  the  New  York 
Zoological  Society) 

sometimes  a  yard  long.  The  stem,  or  shaft,  is  a  marvelous  com- 
bination of  lightness  and  strength.  For  the  greater  part  of  the 
length  of  the  shaft  the  barbs  are  so  far  apart  that  they  do  not 
form  a  web,  but  make  a  fringe  on  each  side.  Toward  the  tip  of 
the  feather  the  barbs  are  closer  together,  and  at  the  extremity 
they  form  a  broad  web.  The  feathers  of  this  structure  growing 
next  to  the  main  tail  feathers  are  the  longest.  The  next  are  a 
little  shorter,  and  thus  the  length  diminishes  until  the  shortest 
coverts  are  only  a  little  longer  than  the  ordinary  feathers  of  the 
back.  This  feather  formation  is  called  the  train.  The  train  of 


208  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

the  peacock  is  the  most  prominent  peculiarity  of  the  species,  but 
there  is  also  in  both  sexes  another  uncommon  feather  character 
—  the  curious  little  tuft,  or  crest  (called  the  aigret),  which  grows 
on  the  head. 

The  surface  color  of  the  peacock  is  a  marvelous  blending  of 
purples,  greens,  golds,  and  bronzes  of  various  hues.  On  the 
head  and  neck  purple  tints  predominate.  The  train  is  mostly 
green  with  large,  eyelike  spots,  or  spangles,  at  the  tip  of  each 
feather.  The  plumage  of  the  female  is  a  soft  brown  on  the  body, 
darkest  on  the  back  and  shading  to  nearly  white  on  the  abdo- 
men. The  brown  often  shows  slight  tints  of  purple  and  green. 
The  neck  and  throat  are  a  purple-green  ;  much  less  intense  than 
the  coloring  on  the  male.  The  young  males  are  colored  like  the 
females  until  they  molt  in  their  second  year.  Then  they  become 
much  darker,  but  it  is  not  until  the  next  molt,  in  their  third  year, 
that  they  grow  the  characteristic  train  and  take  on  the  brilliant 
coloration  which  is  their  greatest  attraction. 

The  wild  peafowls  in  different  parts  of  Asia  vary  somewhat  in 
color  and  are  sometimes  thought  to  be  of  different  species,  but 
they  are  evidently  all  varieties  of  the  same  species.  Specimens 
of  all  are  seen  in  domestication.  One  variety  is  almost  black. 
Domestic  life  has  had  little  if  any  effect  upon  the  type  of  pea- 
fowls. A  white  variety  has  been  produced,  and  from  the  mixture 
of  this  with  the  green  variety,  birds  that  are  partly  white  are 
sometimes  obtained. 

The  significance  of  the  terms  "fowl,"  "cock,"  "hen,"  and 
"chick,"  or  "chicken,"  in  combination  with  the  "pea"  in  the 
name  of  this  bird  is,  of  course,  perfectly  plain.  Those  who  seek 
further  meaning  in  the  first  syllable  are  puzzled  until  they  con- 
sult the  dictionary  and  find  that  the  three  letters  as  they  occur 
here  are  not  the  word  "  pea,"  but  a  contraction  of  pawa,  which 
was  an  Anglo-Saxon  corruption  of  pavo,  the  Latin  name  of  the 
bird.  While  the  original  meaning  of  the  name  is  not  known, 
the  word  came  into  the  Latin  language  from  the  Greek,  into 


PEAFOWLS  209 

which  it  had  previously  come  from  the  Persian.  Hence,  the 
history  of  the  name  indicates  that  the  distribution  of  the  peafowl 
was  along  much  the  same  lines  in  Europe  as  the  distribution 
of  the  fowl. 

Origin.  The  peafowl  is  supposed  to  be  a  native  of  Java  and 
Ceylon.  It  is  found  throughout  Southern  Asia  and  is  said  to 
be  very  numerous  in  India  and  Ceylon,  both  in  the  wild  state 
and  in  a  half-domestic  state.  It  was  known  to  the  Jews  in  the 
time  of  Solomon,  and  to  all  the  ancient  civilized  peoples  of 
Western  Asia,  Europe,  and  Africa  at  a  very  early  period.  In 
the  days  of  the  Roman  Empire  a  peacock  served  with  the 
feathers  on  1  was  a  favorite  dish  at  the  feasts  of  wealthy  Romans, 
and  this  mode  of  serving  the  bird  was  continued  in  Western 
Europe  for  many  centuries.  At  what  time  they  were  introduced 
into  that  part  of  the  world  is  not  known,  but  it  is  probable  that 
they  were  distributed  to  the  various  countries  soon  after  the 
Roman  conquests.  Nor  is  anything  known  of  their  first  in- 
troduction into  America.  It  is,  however,  quite  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  some  were  brought  here  at  an  early  date  by 
wealthy  colonists. 

Place  in  domestication.  In  Europe  and  America  the  peafowl 
is  now  bred  only  for  ornamental  purposes.  That  seems  to  be 
its  status  even  in  the  Asiatic  countries,  where  it  is  most  abundant, 
and  its  position  has  probably  been  much  the  same  in  all  lands 
and  in  all  ages.  The  use  of  fully  developed  peacocks  for  food 
at  banquets  was  simply  a  display  of  barbarous  extravagance. 
Although  a  young  peafowl  is  very  good  eating,  a  male  old 
enough  to  have  acquired  its  full  plumage  would  be  hard,  tough, 
and  unpalatable.  The  peafowl  is  not  prolific  enough  to  be  a 


1  Of  course  the  bird  was  not  cooked  with  the  feathers  on,  but  was  skinned,  the 
feathers  remaining  in  the  skin,  and  after  the  flesh  was  cooked  the  skin  with  the  feathers 
was  placed  over  it  before  it  appeared  on  the  table.  Skinning  poultry  instead  of  plucking 
the  feathers  seems  to  have  been  quite  a  common  practice  in  old  times.  As  recently  as 
between  1880  and  1890  the  author  heard  of  people  who  preferred  it  as  the  easiest  way 
of  preparing  chickens  to  be  cooked  immediately. 


210  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

profitable  table  bird,  and  is  too  desirable  for  its  beauty  to  be 
used  for  any  other  purpose.  In  this  country  peafowls  are  not 
common.  Very  few  are  seen  except  in  zoological  collections 
and  at  the  principal  poultry  shows.  The  scarcity  of  peafowl  is 
not  due  wholly  to  the  expense  of  procuring  them  or  to  the  diffi- 
culty of  rearing  them.  Indeed,  neither  of  these  constitutes  a  seri- 
ous drawback  to  their  popularity.  The  peafowl  is  its  own  worst 
enemy  in  domestication.  It  has  a  very  savage  disposition  toward 
smaller  birds,  and  in  this  way  usually  makes  itself  an  intolerable 
nuisance  to  those  who  grow  other  poultry.  Many  owners  of 
large  farms,  who  do  not  keep  turkeys,  or  who  keep  only  a 
small  flock,  might  maintain  a  small  stock  of  peafowl  with  very 
little  trouble.  Although  they  are  so  vicious  when  brought  in 
close  contact  with  smaller  poultry,  they  will  flock  and  forage  by 
themselves  if  they  have  room  to  do  so. 

Management.  The  methods  of  managing  turkeys  apply  at 
nearly  every  point  to  the  management  of  peafowl.  The  peafowl 
matures  more  slowly  and  does  not  breed  so  early.  The  females 
are  not  fit  for  breeding  until  two  years  old  ;  the  males  not  until 
three  years  old.  They  do  not  pair,  but  mate  in  small  polygamous 
families  —  one  male  with  from  two  to  four  females.  The  pea- 
hen usually  lays  from  four  to  six  eggs  —  rarely  more  than  eight 
or  ten.  The  period  of  incubation  is  four  weeks.  Young  pea- 
chicks  are  very  bright  and  active.  They  begin  to  fly  when  only 
three  or  four  days  old.  If  they  are  to  be  kept  in  an  inclosure 
while  very  small,  the  sides  must  be  high  or  the  top  must  be 
covered  with  wire  netting.  Although  so  active,  they  are  less 
independent  than  most  young  poultry,  and  follow  the  mother 
closely  until  she  drives  them  from  her  at  the  approach  of  the 
next  breeding  season.  Peahens  are  preferred  as  mothers,  because 
their  disposition  is  to  keep  their  young  with  them  much  longer 
than  a  turkey  or  a  fowl  does.  Next  to  the  peahen  a  turkey  hen 
makes  the  best  mother  for  peachicks. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

PHEASANTS 

The  guinea  and  the  peafowl  were  described  as  closely  related 
to  the  pheasants,  and  as  of  limited  usefulness  to  man  both 
because  of  their  ugly  dispositions  and  because  of  their  roving 
habits.  The  species  of  pheasants  that  are  best  known  are  a 
little  farther  removed  from  domestication  by  their  extreme  shy- 
ness, and  have  often  been  excluded  from  lists  of  domestic  birds  ; 
yet  it  is  quite  possible  that  some  of  them  may  become  of  much 
greater  economic  importance  in  America  than  either  the  guinea 
or  the  peafowl. 

Description.  The  most  common  kinds  of  pheasants  are  about 
the  size  of  small  domestic  fowls,  but  have  rounder,  plumper 
bodies.  There  are  also  other  characteristic  differences.  The 
head  of  a  pheasant,  except  a  part  of  the  face  around  the  eye, 
is  usually  feathered.  This  bare  skin,  called  the  wattle,  is  red 
in  most  species,  but  in  a  few  it  is  purplish.  The  feathers  of 
the  neck  are  short,  and  the  tail  is  depressed.  Some  of  the  rarer 
kinds  of  pheasants  are  as  large  as  medium-sized  fowls. 

Pheasants  as  a  class  are  distinguished  principally  for  their 
brilliant  plumage.  In  most  species  the  male  alone  has  showy 
coloring,  the  females  being  very  sober  hued.  In  some  species 
the  male  has  a  very  long  tail,  corresponding  to  the  train  of  the 
peacock ;  in  some  the  tail  is  wide  and  heavy,  as  well  as  quite 
long ;  in  others  the  males  are  feathered  like  the  females. 

The  name  "  pheasant "  comes  from  the  name  of  the  river 
Phasis  in  Colchis,  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  Euxine  Sea.  The 
term  "fowl"  is  not  used  in  connection  with  "pheasant,"  but  the 
words  "cock,"  "hen,"  and  "chicken"  are  used  as  in  other  cases 
that  have  been  mentioned. 


212 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


Origin.  The  pheasants  are  all  natives  of  Asia,  where  nearly 
all  known  kinds  are  found  in  the  wild  state.  They  are  well  dis- 
tributed over  that  continent,  and  are  found  in  localities  differing 
greatly  in  climate  and  in  the  character  of  the  soil  and  of  the 
vegetation.  Some  species  live  mostly  at  low  altitudes  ;  others 
are  peculiar  to  high  mountain  regions.  According  to  an  old 
Greek  legend  the  first  pheasants  known  in  Europe  were  brought 
to  Greece  by  the  Argonauts  on  their  return  from  the  expedition 
in  search  of  the  Golden  Fleece.  A  more  probable  story  is  that 
which  says  that  they  were  introduced  in  the  time  of  Alexander 
the  Great.  Pheasants  were  reared  in  confinement  for  food  by 


FIG.  1 68.  Ringneck  Pheasant1 

the  Greeks  and  the  Egyptians,  and  also  later  by  the  Romans  in 
Italy.  Both  the  rearing  and  the  use  of  pheasants  in  those  times 
seem  to  have  been  limited  to  the  very  wealthy.  From  Greece 
and  Italy  they  were  gradually  distributed  all  over  Europe. 

History  in  America.  The  history  of  pheasants  in  America 
is  much  more  fully  known  than  that  of  most  kinds  of  poultry. 
The  first  importation  of  which  there  is  a  record  was  made  by 
an  Englishman  named  Bache,  who  had  married  a  daughter  of 
Benjamin  Franklin.  In  England  at  that  time  pheasants  were 
propagated,  as  they  are  to-day,  in  a  half-wild  state  in  game  pre- 
serves, and  Mr.  Bache  expected  that  those  which  he  imported 

1  Figs.  168-172  are  from  photographs  of  mounted  specimens  in  the  National  Museum, 
made  to  illustrate  "  Pheasant  Raising  in  the  United  States,"  Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  ^90 
of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 


PHEASANTS  213 

and  released  on  his  estate  in  New  Jersey  would  soon  become 
established  there.  In  this  he  was  disappointed.  Others  who 
subsequently  tried  the  same  plan  met  with  no  better  success. 
For  a  long  time  the  only  pheasants  known  in  this  country  were 
those  grown  in  confinement  by  fanciers. 

The  first  successful  attempt  to  establish  pheasants  at  liberty 
on  this  continent  was  made  in  Oregon  with  pheasants  brought 
direct  from  China.  The  United  States  consul  at  Shanghai  sent 
some  Ringneck  Pheasants  to  Oregon  in  1880.  As  most  of  these 


FIG.  169.   Mongolian  Pheasant 

died  on  the  way,  a  second  shipment  was  sent  in  the  following 
year.  In  all  about  forty  birds  were  liberated.  The  shooting  of 
pheasants  was  prohibited  by  law  in  Oregon  until  1892,  when 
the  stock  had  become  so  widely  distributed  and  so  well  estab- 
lished that  shooting  them  was  allowed  for  a  short  season.  So 
numerous  were  the  pheasants  at  this  time  that  on  the  first  day 
of  this  open  season  about  50,000  were  shot  by  the  hunters.  In 
many  other  states  efforts  have  since  been  made,  both  by  state 
game  commissions  and  by  private  enterprise,  to  acclimatize 
pheasants  and  establish  them  as  game  birds.  Some  of  these 
efforts  have  been  quite  successful. 


214 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


Species  and  varieties.  The  relationships  of  the  various  kinds 
of  pheasants  are  not  positively  known.  Some  kinds  that  are 
undoubtedly  varieties  of  the  same  species  are  commonly  classed 
as  different  species.  The  best-known  of  these  so-called  species 
interbreed  freely.  The  rare  kinds  have  not  been  sufficiently 
tested,  either  with  common  kinds  or  with  one  another,  to  show 


FIG.  170.  Amherst  Pheasant 

whether  they  are  species  or  merely  varieties.  The  European 
pheasants,  descended  from  the  stocks  which  came  in  early  times 
from  Western  Asia,  are  called  by  various  names  —  Common 
Pheasant,  Darknecked  Pheasant,  English  Pheasant,  and  Hun- 
garian Pheasant.  Two  kinds  of  pheasants,  of  the  same  type  but 
having  more  distinctive  color  markings,  have  in  recent  times 
been  brought  from  Eastern  Asia.  One  of  these  is  commonly 


PHEASANTS 


215 


called  the  Ringneck  Pheasant,  but  the  names  "  China  Pheasant," 
"  Mongolian  Pheasant,"  and  others  are  also  applied  to  it.  The 
second  variety,  also  called  Mongolian  Pheasant,  is  said  by  some 
authorities  to  be  the  only  one  to  which  the  name  "  Mongolian  " 
properly  applies.  It  is  not  quite  like  the  Ringneck,  but,  like 
it,  has  a  white  ring  around  the  neck.  From  Japan  still  another 
bird,  called  the  Versicolor  Pheasant,  or  Japanese  -Versicolor 
Pheasant,  very  similar  in  type,  was  brought  to  England.  These 
three  varieties  from  Eastern  Asia  have  been  mixed  with  the 
European  pheasants  to  such  an  extent  that  there  are  now  very 


FIG.  171.  Manchurian  Pheasant 

few  pheasants  of  the  type  common  in  Europe  before  their  in- 
troduction, and  good  specimens  of  the  oriental  races  are  equally 
rare.  The  principal  English  variety  at  the  present  time  is  a 
Ringneck  produced  from  the  mixture.  This  is  called  the  Eng- 
lish Pheasant ;  in  England  it  is  also  sometimes  called  the  Com- 
mon Pheasant.  The  birds  that  breed  at  liberty  in  the  United 
States  are  mostly  of  the  Ringneck  type. 

Although  they  are  very  beautiful  birds,  the  pheasants  thus  far 
mentioned  appear  plain  in  comparison  with  the  Silver  and  the 
Golden  Pheasants  (which  are  the  most  common  of  the  highly 
ornamental  varieties)  and  the  Reeves  and  Amherst  Pheasants. 


2l6 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


These  are  the  kinds  most  often  seen  in  aviaries  and  at  poultry 
shows.  There  are  many  other  rare  and  curious  varieties  which 
are  to  be  seen  only  in  the  finest  collections.  Among  these  is 
a  class  called  the  Eared  Pheasants,  because  of  the  little  tufts  of 
feathers  which  project  backward  at  each  side  of  the  head,  look- 
ing strikingly  like  the  ears  of  a  mammal.  The  pheasants  of  this 
class  are  mostly  dull  colored  and  quite  docile  in  disposition. 

Place  in  domestication.    The  future  place  of  pheasants  in 
domestication  is  not  so  plainly  indicated  by  their  history  and 

present  position  as  the  places 
of  the  guinea  and  the  turkey 
seem  to  be.  Pheasants  seem 
to  be  more  desirable,  easier 
to  control,  better  suited  to 
confinement,  and  also  better 
adapted  to  wintering  out  of 
doors  in  cold  climates,  than 
are  guineas.  The  beauty  of 
the  ornamental  types  makes 
them  very  desirable  to  those 
who  keep  birds  for  pleasure. 
Because  they  are  so  much 
smaller  than  peafowl,  and 
also  because  they  are  able 
to  live  amicably  with  fowls, 
they  may  be  kept  where  pea- 


FIG.  172.  Monaul,  a  Himalayan 
pheasant 


fowl  could  not.  It  is  there- 
fore probable  that,  as  people  in  America  become  more  familiar 
with  pheasants,  and  as  they  learn  that  the  greatest  pleasure  and 
the  surest  profit  in  aviculture  are  to  be  found  in  growing  a  few 
birds  under  the  most  favorable  conditions  that  can  be  made  for 
them,  the  numbers  of  pheasant  fanciers  will  greatly  increase. 

In  England  pheasants  are  extensively  grown  in  game  pre- 
serves, for  shooting  and  for  sale  as  breeding  stock  to  those 


PHEASANTS  217 

who  wish  to  stock  new  preserves.  Where  the  birds  are  fed  by 
a  keeper,  as  they  must  be  when  they  are  very  numerous,  they 
become  so  tame  that  hunting  them  is  not  very  exciting  sport. 
Some  that  have  been  released  in  this  country,  and  have  lived  in 
a  natural  state  in  places  where  shooting  them  was  not  allowed, 
have  become  quite  as  tame  as  the  birds  in  the  English  preserves. 
Altogether  the  history  of  efforts  to  establish  pheasants  in  a  wild 
state  with  a  measure  of  protection  from  hunters  shows  that  it 
would  often  be  practical  for  owners  of  woodland  and  waste  land 
to  establish  and  preserve  colonies  of  wild  or  half-wild  pheasants. 
Whether  this  will  be  done  to  any  great  extent  depends  upon  the 
extermination  of  wild  animals  and  upon  the  placing  of  proper 
restrictions  upon  the  domestic  animals  (dogs  and  cats)  which 
are  destructive  to  land  birds  ;  it  depends  also,  to  some  extent, 
upon  concert  of  action  among  the  landowners  in  a  community, 
in  securing  for  themselves  the  use  of  the  pheasants  grown  on 
their  lands. 

The  possibility  of  domesticating  pheasants  of  the  Manchurian 
type,  and  one  or  two  other  rare  varieties  that,  when  seen  on  exhi- 
bition, appear  very  docile,  is  also  to  be  taken  into  account.  The 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  1  has  called  attention  to 
the  fact  that  some  of  the  little-known  kinds  of  pheasants  seem 
especially  adapted  to  domestication.  Even  before  that,  many 
poultrymen,  seeing  these  birds  at  exhibitions,  had  been  im- 
pressed by  their  appearance,  and  had  remarked  that  they  looked 
like  birds  that  would  become  thoroughly  domestic.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  persons  desiring  to  grow  any  of  the  more  common 
varieties  of  pheasants  for  table  use  should  first  ascertain  how 
the  game  laws  of  the  state  in  which  they  live,  and  of  any  state 
into  which  they  might  want  to  send  pheasants,  would  affect  their 
undertaking.  Sometimes  the  laws  made  to  protect  pheasants  in 
a  wild  state  have  been  passed  without  due  regard  for  the  interests 
of  persons  growing  them  in  captivity.  Errors  of  this  kind  are 

1  Pheasant  Raising  in  the  United  States,  Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  390. 


218  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

usually  adjusted  before  long ;  meantime  those  who  may  inno- 
cently break  a  law  find  the  situation  very  embarrassing. 

Management  of  pheasants  in  confinement.  The  breeding  of 
pheasants  on  a  small  scale  may  be  carried  on  in  any  place 
where  suitable  runs  can  be  made  for  them.  The  first  essential 
is  a  somewhat  secluded  site  where  the  birds  will  not  be  subject 
to  frequent  disturbances.  It  should  be  near  enough  to  the  owner's 
dwelling  to  enable  him  to  keep  watch  of  what  goes  on  in  its 


FIG.  173.  Coops  and  yards  for  breeding  pheasants.    (Photograph  from 
Simpson's  Pheasant  Farm,  Corvallis,  Oregon) 

vicinity,  yet  not  so  near  that  the  movements  of  the  members 
of  the  household,  as  they  go  about  their  ordinary  affairs,  will 
disturb  the  pheasants.  It  should  be  where  trees  or  bushes  make 
a  natural  shade  but  not  a  dense  shade  ;  a  place  where  the  sun 
and  shade  are  about  equal  on  a  clear  day  is  best.  A  light  sandy 
or  gravelly  soil  is  to  be  preferred,  and  a  clay  soil  should  be 
avoided.  If  the  land  has  underbrush  on  it,  this  need  not  be 
cleared  from  the  space  occupied  by  the  run,  unless  it  is  so 
thick  that  it  shades  the  ground  too  much. 


PHEASANTS 


219 


The  house  should  be  of  about  the  same  size  and  construction 
as  would  be  used  for  a  few  fowls.  A  roosting  place  should  also  be 
made  in  the  yard,  for  as  a  rule  the  birds  will  prefer  to  roost  out- 
doors. The  house  is  to  afford  them  proper  shelter  from  severe 
storms  and  during  prolonged  damp  weather.  For  either  a  pair 
or  a  pen  of  a  male  and  several  females  the  yard  should  contain 
about  600  square  feet.  The  fences  inclosing  it  should  be  at  least 
6  feet  high,  and  the  top  should  be  covered  with  wire  netting. 


FIG.  174.  Young  China  Pheasants  at  feeding  time.    (Photograph  from 
Simpson's  Pheasant  Farm,  Corvallis,  Oregon) 

The  Silver,  Soemmerring,  and  Swinhoe  Pheasants  mate  in 
pairs  ;  the  other  familiar  kinds  are  polygamous,  and  from  one 
to  five  or  six  females  may  be  kept  with  one  male. 

Pheasants  may  be  fed  the  same  things  as  are  fed  to  fowls, 
and  in  much  the  same  manner,  but  there  is  one  important 
difference  which  the  pheasant  breeder  must  carefully  observe. 
Fowls  will  stand  abuse  in  the  matter  of  diet  much  better  than 
pheasants  will.  In  feeding  the  latter  more  attention  must  be 
given  to  providing  regular  supplies  of  green  food,  to  having  all 


22O 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


food  sound  and  good  when  fed,  and  to  regulating  the  quantity 
given  for  a  meal  so  that  it  will  not  lie  about  and  become  sour 
or  soiled  before  it  is  eaten. 

Most  pheasant  fanciers  use  large  bantams  or  small  common 
hens  to  hatch  and  rear  the  young  pheasants.  The  period  of  in- 
cubation is  from  twenty-two  to  twenty-four  days.  Until  they  are 
weaned  from  the  hens  the  little  pheasants  may  be  managed  as 
young  chickens  are,  but  with  the  same  attention  to  variety  of  food 


FIG.  175.  Fowls  and  pheasants  in  same  yard  on  a  New  England  poultry  farm 

and  to  moderation  in  feeding  that  has  been  specified  for  the 
old  birds.  A  small  number  with  a  good  range  on  grass  or  in  a 
garden  will  pick  much  of  their  food.  Many  of  the  older  works 
on  poultry  which  treated  of  the  care  of  pheasants  recommended 
for  the  young  birds  a  great  variety  of  foods  not  easily  provided. 
Nowadays  the  most  successful  amateur  fanciers  feed  either  a 
mixture  of  the  common  small  grains  or  some  of  the  commercial 
mixtures  which  contain,  in  addition  to  these,  a  number  of  seeds 
and  grains  not  much  used  by  poultry  keepers  who  buy  their 
grains  separately  in  bulk.  Stale  cracked  corn,  which  is  dangerous 


PHEASANTS  221 

to  all  young  poultry,  is  especially  to  be  avoided  in  feeding  young 
pheasants.  After  the  young  pheasants  are  weaned,  they  must 
be  kept  in  covered  runs,  or  their  wings  must  be  clipped  to 
prevent  them  from  flying. 

A  large  pheasantry  is  operated  on  the  same  general  lines  as 
a  plant  where  birds  are  grown  in  small  numbers.  The  method  is 
simply  an  extension  of  that  just  described.  When  only  one  kind 
of  pheasant  is  kept,  the  inclosed  yard  is  sometimes  made  very 
large,  and  a  hundred  or  more  birds  are  put  together.  This  is  not 
good  practice  with  any  kind  of  poultry,  and  is  no  doubt  respon- 
sible for  much  of  the  trouble  which  those  growing  pheasants 
in  large  numbers  have  had.  At  aviaries  where  there  are  large 
collections  of  pheasants,  including  many  rare  and  costly  kinds, 
the  yards  are  always  made  large  enough  to  give  the  birds  good 
sanitary  conditions,  and  as  a  rule  each  family  of  adult  birds, 
whether  composed  of  two  or  more,  has  a  yard  to  itself. 


CHAPTER  XV 
SWANS 

Naturalists  divide  swans  into  a  number  of  different  species. 
Whether  this  division  is  correct  is  not  known.  The  habits  of 
swans,  and  the  circumstances  under  which  they  are  usually 
kept,  tend  to  prevent  the  mingling  of  different  kinds.  As  far 
as  the  author  has  been  able  to  learn,  there  is  no  evidence  which 
shows  conclusively  the  relations  of  any  of  the  supposed  different 
species.  The  differences  between  them  are  in  some  cases  very 
slight.  Some  of  the  decisions  of  the  naturalists  who  have  clas- 
sified slightly  different  kinds  as  distinct  species  are  based  upon 
examinations  of  very  small  numbers  of  specimens.  Considering 
the  apparent  resemblances  of  the  different  kinds  of  swans  in 
the  light  of  what  is  known  of  species  and  varieties  in  fowls, 
ducks,  geese,  and  pheasants,  it  seems  probable  that  the  true 
species  of  swans  are  fewer  in  number  than  the  common  clas- 
sification shows,  and  it  also  seems  quite  possible  that  all  swans 
are  of  the  same  species. 

Description.  The  common  swan,  called  the  domestic  swan,  is 
about  the  size  of  the  largest  domestic  geese,  but  appears  larger 
because  it  has  a  longer  neck  and  head  and  larger  wings.  The 
body  is  also  somewhat  longer  than  that  of  a  goose  of  about  the 
same  weight,  and  the  swan  is  a  much  more  graceful  bird  than  a 
large  goose.  It  is  sometimes  called  the  Mute  Swan,  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  Whistling  Swan,  which  is  a  very  similar  kind  not 
bred  in  domestication.  There  are  other  slight  differences  between 
the  Mute  Swans  and  the  Whistling  Swans,  but  the  difference  in 
the  voice,  if  it  really  is  as  great  as  is  supposed,  is  the  only  one 
of  much  consequence  in  deciding  their  relations.  The  Mute  Swan 


SWANS  223 

is  not  dumb.  It  sometimes  makes  a  low,  whistling  sound. 
People  are  not  agreed  as  to  whether  there  is  any  real  founda- 
tion for  the  familiar  tradition  that  the  Mute  Swan  remains  silent 
until  about  to  die,  and  then  sings  a  "  song."  Some  people  ac- 
quainted with  the  habits  of  swans  declare  that  the  swan  is  more 
vocal  when  dying  than  at  any  other  time  in  its  life.  Others 
say  that  the  idea  probably  arose  as  a  result  of  some  one's  hear- 
ing a  dying  swan  moaning  in  pain,  as  sick  animals  and  birds 
often  do,  and  concluding  that  it  was  uttering  a  series  of  sounds 
characteristic  of  swans  in  a  dying  condition.  However  that 
may  be,  the  Mute  Swan  is  distinctly  less  noisy  than  the  wild 
Whistling  Swan. 

Until  1697  all  swans  known  to  civilized  people  were  white, 
and  the  swan  was  an  emblem  of  purity  of  color.  In  that  year 
a  Dutch  navigator  visiting  Australia  found  there  a  black  swan. 
Afterwards  a  white  swan  with  a  black  neck  was  discovered  in 
South  America.  Had  the  subject  of  heredity  been  well  under- 
stood before  the  discovery  of  these  two  swans  that  were  not 
white,  people  familiar  with  the  white  swans  would  have  known 
that  there  were  colored  swans  in  some  unexplored  country  (or 
that  they  had  existed  in  the  known  world  in  a  former  age), 
for  white  swans  are  not  perfectly  white  at  maturity,  and  when 
young  they  are  gray.  Neither  is  the  black  swan  all  black.  It 
has  white  flight  feathers,  and  its  black  color  is  a  rusty  black, 
that  is,  a  black  mixed  with  red. 

Swans  are  very  long-lived  birds,  but  stories  of  swans  living 
to  seventy  or  eighty  years  of  age  are  not  to  be  credited.  It 
cannot  be  affirmed  that  the  birds  may  not  live  as  long  as 
that,  but  the  evidence  in  the  cases  reported  is  defective.  The 
reports  of  swans  living  for  fifty  years  are  quite  credible.  The 
male  and  female  swan  are  not  readily  distinguished,  for  there 
are  no  external  indications  of  sex,  and. the  birds  use  their 
voices  so  rarely  that,  even  if  there  is  a  difference  in  the  notes 
of  the  male  and  female,  it  is  not  practical  to  use  it  to  distinguish 


224  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

between  them.    The  only  way  to  identify  the  sex  with  certainty 
is  by  observing  the  birds  at  nesting  time. 

The  name  "swan"  is  Anglo-Saxon.  Nothing  is  known  of  its 
derivation.  The  terms  "cock"  and  "  hen"  are  sometimes  applied 
to  swans  as  they  are  to  many  other  kinds  of  birds.  The  swan- 
herds  in  England  call  the  male  a  cob  and  the  female  &pen.  The 
young  swan  is  called  a  cygnet,  from  the  French  word  for  "swan." 


FIG.  176.  Swan  and  nest 

Origin  and  history  in  domestication.  Tradition  says  that  the 
domestic  swan  was  brought  to  England  from  France  by  Richard 
the  Lion-hearted.  As  the  swan  is  a  migratory  bird,  still  some- 
times seen  in  many  parts  of  the  Eastern  Hemisphere  north  of  the 
equator,  it  is  possible  that  swans  were  known  in  England  long 
before  the  reign  of  this  king.  However  that  may  be,  it  is  certain 
that,  from  about  the  time  of  the  Norman  Conquest,  the  swan 
has  occupied  a  peculiar  position  in  England.  It  was  regarded 


SWANS  225 

as  a  royal  bird,  and  the  privilege  of  owning  swans  was  granted 
only  to  those  in  high  station.  At  first  the  number  of  those  who 
were  permitted  to  own  swans  was  very  small,  but  it  was  afterward 
extended  until,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  more  than  nine 
hundred  different  swanmarks  were  registered  by  the  royal  swan- 
herd,  who  had  general  oversight  of  all  the  swans  in  the  kingdom. 
The  swans  were  marked  by  branding  or  cutting  the  bill,  this 
being  necessary  because  they  lived  largely  on  the  margins  of 
uninclosed  waters,  just  as  in  some  of  our  Western  states  cattle 
live  on  unfenced  lands.  The  right  to  own  swans  carried  with  it 
the  right  to  keep  them  in  such  a  place. 

Place  in  domestication.  Although  it  has  been  bred  in  captivity 
for  centuries,  the  swan  is  not  fully  domesticated.  It  does  not, 
like  the  duck  and  the  goose,  so  increase  in  size  and  weight 
when  kept  under  the  control  of  man  that  it  becomes  incapable 
of  flight,  but,  like  the  American  Wild  Goose  in  captivity,  it  is 
prevented  from  flying  by  removing  the  first  joint  of  one  wing, 
the  operation  being  performed  as  soon  as  possible  after  the 
young  birds  are  hatched.  The  swan  lives  more  on  the  water 
than  either  the  duck  or  the  goose.  It  subsists  largely  upon 
coarse  aquatic  grasses  and  plants,  and  is  said  to  eat  all  kinds  of 
decaying  matter  found  in  the  water. 

In  England  in  old  times  the  swan  was  used  as  food  by  the 
wealthy,  but  its  use  for  this  purpose  ceased  long  ago.  It  is 
now  kept  almost  exclusively  for  ornament.  Most  of  the  swans 
in  America  are  kept  in  public  parks  or  on  large  private  estates. 
Very  few  are  reared  here  ;  the  supply  is  kept  up  largely  by 
importations  from  England.  The  swan  is  not  popular,  because 
the  birds  are  costly  and  are  not  prolific.  Still  the  breeding  of 
swans  for  ornamental  purposes  or  for  sale  to  exhibitors  might 
be  carried  on  with  profit  upon  many  farms.  Under  suitable  con- 
ditions, swans  may,  at  the  same  time,  perform  valuable  service 
and  make  a  valuable  product.  By  consuming  the  kinds  of  food 
which  they  prefer,  they  clean  ponds  and  keep  sluggish  streams 


226  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

open.  Being  so  large  and  strong,  and  requiring  so  much  coarse 
food,  they  are  a  great  deal  more  servicable  in  this  way  than  are 
ducks  and  geese. 

Management.  When  swans  were  abundant  in  England,  they 
were  kept  mostly  upon  certain  rivers  and  inlets  of  the  sea  where 
natural  food  was  abundant.  The  climate  of  England  is  so  mild 
that  they  can  there  obtain  food  in  such  places  at  all  seasons. 
The  colder  parts  of  America  do  not  afford  conditions  favorable 
to  swan  culture.  Where  the  winters  are  long  and  severe,  and 
streams  and  ponds  are  frozen  over  for  months,  wintering  swans 
would  be  troublesome  and  expensive,  but  where  the  waters  are 
open  throughout  the  year,  a  farmer  who  had  a  suitable  place  for 
them  might  breed  swans  with  profit.  A  pair  of  swans  would  cost 
about  the  same  as  a  good  cow,  and  might  make  about  the  same 
net  profit.  But  there  would  be  this  difference :  the  cow  would 
require  a  great  deal  of  care,  the  swans  very  little ;  the  cow  would 
eat  salable  food,  the  swans  mostly  waste  food.  By  this  com- 
parison it  is  not  meant  to  suggest  that  a  farmer  might  profit- 
ably replace  his  cows  with  swans.  The  object  is  simply  to  show 
how  the  possible  profit  from  small  specialities  compares  with 
the  usual  profit  from  a  regular  feature  of  farming. 

The  methods  of  managing  swans  are  much  like  the  methods 
of  managing  wild  geese  in  captivity.  The  principal  difference 
is  that  the  swans  must  have  a  larger  body  of  water,  and  one  in 
which  vegetation  is  abundant.  They  are  not  as  fond  of  land 
grasses  as  geese  are,  and  like  to  float  on  the  surface  of  the 
water,  feeding  on  the  vegetation  at  the  bottom.  Their  long 
necks  enable  them  to  do  this  in  water  several  feet  deep.  They 
need  no  shelter  but  a  small  hut,  which  they  will  use  only  in 
rare  emergencies.  After  they  have  settled  down  in  a  spot,  there 
should  be  no  need  of  building  fences  to  restrain  them.  As 
they  are  not  able  to  fly,  they  will  remain  quite  near  their  home 
unless  food  supplies  there  are  very  short.  In  that  case  extra  food 
should  be  given  them.  Even  when  natural  food  is  abundant, 


227 


228 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


it  is  a  good  plan  to  feed  swans  a  little  of  something  else  occa- 
sionally, to  attach  them  to  the  person  who  has  charge  of  them. 
As  every  one  knows  who  has  seen  the  swans  in  parks,  where 
visitors  amuse  themselves  by  feeding  them,  swans  are  very  fond 
of  bread.  They  will  eat  grain  also,  although,  when  not  accus- 
tomed to  it,  they  may  at  first  refuse  it.  Their  food  is  usually  given 
either  by  throwing  it  on  the  water  or  by  placing  it  in  troughs 
from  which  the  birds  can  eat  while  floating  upon  the  water. 


FIG.  178.  View  of  an  English  swannery 

The  female  builds  near  the  water  a  nest  of  coarse  stalks  and 
small  sticks.  Sometimes  this  is  reared  to  a  height  of  several 
feet,  and  material  added  around  the  sides,  little  by  little,  during 
the  whole  period  of  incubation.  Swans  have  been  known  to 
pile  up  nearly  half  a  cord  of  material  for  their  nest.  From 
five  to  ten  eggs  are  laid  in  the  nest.  The  period  of  incubation 
is  six  weeks.  As  far  as  possible,  interference  with  the  birds 
should  be  avoided  during  the  breeding  season  and  while  the 
young  are  small.  When  it  is  necessary  to  handle  them  in  any 


SWANS  229 

way,  the  attendant  should  have  at  the  start  all  the  assistance  he 
is  likely  to  require.  A  blow  from  a  swan's  wing  may  injure  a 
man  very  seriously.  It  is  said  that  such  a  blow  has  been  known 
to  break  a  man's  thigh. 

The  young  are  gray  when  hatched  and  do  not  become  entirely 
white  until  two  years  old.  Even  then  many  of  them  are  not  ab- 
solutely white,  but  show  very  distinct  traces  of  reddish-yellow, 
especially  on  the  head  and  upper  part  of  the  neck.  There  is 
a  story  that  a  young  swan  of  a  deep  buff  color  was  hatched  at 
Lewes  in  England. 

If  the  swans  with  young  must  be  fed,  the  usual  practice  is  to 
throw  the  food  upon  the  water.  Stale  bread,  grain,  and  even 
meal  are  given  in  this  way.  It  looks  like  a  wasteful  way  of 
feeding,  but  the  birds  will  get  all  the  food. 

Swanneries  are  unknown  in  America.  In  England  a  few  of 
those  established  many  centuries  ago  still  remain.  The  largest 
and  most  celebrated  of  these  is  at  Abbotsbury.  Swans  have 
been  bred  here  continuously  for  about  eight  hundred  years. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

OSTRICHES 

The  ostrich  is  unlike  other  birds  in  many  important  characters. 
It  is  not  a  typical  bird.  While  it  has  feathers  and  wings,  its 
feathering  is  not  normal,  and  the  muscles  of  the  wings  are  lack- 
ing. In  the  minds  of  most  persons  it  is  associated  with  the 
circus  menagerie  rather  than  with  the  poultry  yard,  but,  as  we 
shall  see,  this  singular  bird  has  a  place  in  domestication  and,  as 
a  useful  land  bird,  belongs  to  the  poultry  group.  There  are  two 
species  of  ostriches,  but  only  one  of  these  is  of  economic  value. 

Description.  The  ostrich  is  the  largest  of  living  birds.  A 
full-grown  male  standing  erect  measures  from  six  to  seven  feet 
in  height.  The  largest  specimens  weigh  about  three  hundred 
pounds.  As,  in  the  atmosphere  which  now  surrounds  the  earth, 
a  creature  of  such  size  and  weight  cannot  fly  at  all,  the  wings 
of  the  ostrich  have  become  atrophied,  and  the  muscles  of  the 
wings,  which  form  the  plump,  meaty  breasts  of  flying  birds,  are 
entirely  wanting.  Not  only  have  these  muscles  disappeared,  but 
the  breastbone,  which  in  flying  birds  is  very  large  in  proportion 
to  the  rest  of  the  skeleton,  and  has  a  deep,  longitudinal  keel  in 
the  middle,  is  comparatively  small  in  the  ostrich  and  has  no 
keel  at  all.  The  ostrich,  having  no  power  of  flight,  is  dependent 
for  safety  upon  its  speed  in  running ;  so  its  legs  are  long  and 
strong,  and  the  muscles  which  move  them  are  very  large.  In- 
deed, there  is  very  little  meat  on  an  ostrich  except  on  the  thighs. 
It  can  run  much  faster  than  a  horse.  Because  its  foot  must  be 
adapted  to  running  at  great  speed,  the  ostrich  has  only  two  toes. 
Its  neck  is  very  long  and  slender,  and  its  head  is  very  small  and 
flat.  In  such  a  head  there  is  little  room  for  brains.  The  ostrich 

230 


OSTRICHES 


231 


is  a  very  stupid  creature,  but  it  does  not,  as  is  commonly  sup- 
posed, hide  its  head  in  the  sand  and  imagine  that,  not  being  able 
to  see  its  enemies,  it  cannot  be  seen  by  them.  That  is  a  myth 
apparently  based  upon  the  fact  that,  when  in  repose,  an  ostrich 
sometimes  lies  with  its  long  neck  stretched  upon  the  ground. 


FIG.  179.   Side  view  of  male  ostrich.    (Photograph  from  the  Bureau  of 
Animal  Industry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

Since  the  wings  of  the  ostrich  are  useless  for  flight,  the  flight 
feathers  have  lost  the  structure  adapted  to  that  purpose  and 
have  developed  into  beautiful  plumes.  The  tail  feathers  have 
also  undergone  a  similar  change.  These  wing  and  tail  feathers 
are  the  ostrich  feathers  of  commerce.  The  neck  and  head  of 
the  ostrich  are  almost  bare  of  feathers.  The  body  is  covered 


232  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

with  feathers,  but  not  as  densely  as  in  most  birds.  There  are 
just  enough  feathers  on  the  body  of  an  ostrich  to  protect  the 
skin  from  exposure  when  they  lie  flat.  The  areas  on  the  skin 
where  there  are  no  feathers  are  much  larger  than  on  other  birds. 
The  thighs  of  the  ostrich  are  bare.  The  skin  is  in  some  varie- 
ties of  a  bluish-gray ;  in  other  varieties  the  bare  parts  are  red 
and  the  skin  of  the  body  is  yellow. 

The  crop  and  the  gizzard  of  the  ostrich  are  not  separated  as 
in  other  birds,  but  are  joined ;  the  upper  part  of  the  stomach 
performs  the  functions  of  a  crop  and  the  lower  part  those  of 
a  gizzard. 

The  male  ostrich  is  usually  larger  than  the  female.  The  adult 
males  and  females  are  plainly  distinguished  by  the  color  of  their 
plumage,  the  body  feathers  of  the  male  being  black,  while  those 
of  the  female  are  gray.  The  plumes  of  both  sexes  are  white  or 
white  mixed  with  black.  The  black  on  an  ostrich  is  often  of  a 
brownish  shade,  and  this  is  most  conspicuous  when  it  appears 
on  the  plumes. 

The  bill  of  the  male  and  the  scales  on  the  fronts  of  his  shanks 
become  a  bright  rose  color  in  the  breeding  season.  The  male 
ostrich  utters  a  guttural  sound,  called  booming,  which  is  said 
to  resemble  the  roar  of  a  lion  as  heard  at  a  distance.  The  voice 
of  the  female  is  like  that  of  the  male,  but  very  faint. 

The  difference  in  the  plumage  of  the  sexes,  although  it  is  not 
complete  until  after  the  second  adult  molt,  is  noticeable  much 
earlier.  The  females  do  not  begin  to  lay  until  three  or  four 
years  old.  The  males  are  not  fully  matured  until  four  or  five 
years  of  age.  Ostriches  are  very  long-lived.  Birds  whose  age 
could  be  verified  have  lived  as  long  as  forty-five  years  in  cap- 
tivity, and  at  that  age  were  profitable  as  breeders  and  also  as 
feather  producers.  It  is  believed  by  some  of  those  most  com- 
petent to  judge  such  matters  that  under  favorable  circumstan- 
ces an  ostrich  might  live  a  hundred  years  or  more.  Very  few 
of  the  birds  kept  in  domestication  die  of  old  age.  They  are 


OSTRICHES 


233 


so  stupid,  and  their  long  legs,  though  strong  for  running,  are 
so  easily  broken,  that  an  accident  of  some  kind  almost  always 
ends  the  life  of  an  ostrich  long  before  it  has  passed  its  prime. 


FIG.  1 80.    Front  view  of  male  and  female  ostriches.    (Photograph  from  the 
Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

The  name  "  ostrich  "  has  an  interesting  history.  The  Greeks 
called  this  singular  bird  stnithiod '.  This  came  into  the  Latin 
language  as  struthio.  In  low  Latin,  avis,  the  Latin  word  for 
"bird,"  was  prefixed  to  what  remained  of  the  Greek  name, 


234  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

giving  avis  struthio.  "  Ostrich  "  is  a  contraction  of  this  low 
Latin  compound.  So  we  have  in  this  name  a  combination  of 
two  words  from  different  languages,  having  the  same  meaning. 
The  terms  "cock,"  "hen,"  and  "chick"  are  used  with  the 
name  of  the  species,  to  designate  respectively  the  adult  male, 
the  adult  female,  and  the  young  before  the  first  plucking. 

Origin  and  history  in  domestication.  The  domestic  ostrich 
is  the  wild  African  ostrich  in  captivity.  It  is  probable  that  the 
ostrich  was  familiar  to  the  people  of  Northern  Africa,  and  was 
known  to  those  of  the  adjacent  parts  of  Asia  and  Europe,  in 
prehistoric  times.  In  very  early  times  ostriches  may  have  been 
kept  in  captivity  for  their  feathers,  as  they  are  now  kept  in  the 
Sudan,  but,  until  about  1 860,  when  the  farmers  of  South  Africa 
began  to  take  an  interest  in  the  subject,  we  have  no  knowledge 
of  any  efforts  to  breed  ostriches  in  captivity  and  to  improve  the 
quality  of  the  feathers  by  giving  the  birds  more  nutritious  food 
than  they  usually  get  in  the  wild  state.  The  first  stock  used  in 
South  Africa  was  some  of  the  wild  stock  found  in  that  part  of 
the  continent.  In  1882  the  first  ostriches  were  brought  to  the 
United  States. 

Place  in  domestication.  Commercially  the  ostrich  is  valuable 
only  for  its  plume  feathers.  The  extent  of  the  development  of 
ostrich  culture  depends  upon  the  demand  for  ostrich  feathers 
at  prices  that  will  warrant  breeding  ostriches  to  supply  them. 
When  the  industry  was  first  established  in  South  Africa,  ostrich 
feathers  brought  high  prices  and  the  business  was  very  profit- 
able ;  but  so  many  farmers  engaged  in  it,  and  the  supply  of 
feathers  increased  so  rapidly  that  prices  soon  became  much 
lower  and  have  never  since  returned  to  the  scale  that  prevailed 
at  that  time. 

The  flesh  of  the  ostrich  is  edible,  but  it  is  so  hard  and  tough 
that  no  one  would  grow  ostriches  for  their  flesh.  The  egg  of 
an  ostrich  is  about  as  large  as  two  dozen  hen  eggs.  Ostrich 
eggs  are  said  to  be  very  good,  but  they  are  too  large  for  ordinary 


OSTRICHES 


235 


use,  and  the  birds  are  so  long  in  maturing  that  it  would  not 
pay  to  use  them  to  produce  eggs  for  commercial  purposes. 

The  breeding  of  ostriches  for  their  feathers,  however,  may 
be  regarded  as  a  permanent  industry,  for  there  will  always  be  a 
demand  for  ostrich  plumes,  but  it  cannot  be  developed  as  ex- 
tensively as  if  the  product  were  a  staple  article  of  food.  The 
ostrich  farms  in  America  are  mostly  special  farms  devoted  ex- 
clusively to  ostrich  breeding.  Most  of  these  farms  are  owned 


FIG.   181.    Ostrich  eggs  and  newly  hatched  chicks.     (Photograph  from  the 
Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

and  operated  by  companies.  Some  of  them  are  stock  speculation 
projects.  In  South  Africa  the  industry  is  more  in  the  hands  of  the 
general  farmers,  each  of  those  engaged  in  it  growing  a  few  birds. 
The  people  of  South  Africa  have  tried  to  secure  a  monopoly 
in  ostrich  feathers  by  prohibiting  the  exportation  of  ostriches  and 
by  purchasing  the  best  stock  to  be  obtained  in  North  Africa. 
Ostrich  farming  is  practical  only  in  tropical  and  semitropical 
countries  ;  the  plumage  of  the  birds  is  too  scanty  to  protect  them 
in  the  cold  winters  of  temperate  climes.  In  the  United  States 


236  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

nearly  all  the  ostrich  farms  are  in  Southern  California  and 
Arizona,  but  there  are  some  in  Texas,  Arkansas,  and  Florida. 

Management.  In  the  places  where  ostrich  farming  is  carried 
on,  the  birds  need  no  shelter.  They  must  be  kept  in  inclosures 
fenced  as  for  cattle.  As  ostriches  are  bred  for  their  plumage, 
and  that  of  the  male  is  most  valuable,  the  breeder  does  not 
object  to  their  following  their  natural  inclination  and  mating  in 
pairs,  but  many  males  are  so  injured  in  fighting  that  they 
must  be  killed.  This  leaves  an  excess  of  females,  and  so  two 
or  more  females  are  sometimes  mated  with  one  male.  The 
birds  are  mated  for  breeding  when  they  are  about  three  and 
one-half  years  old.  The  object  of  mating  them  before  they  are 
fully  mature  is  to  prevent  them  from  selecting  for  themselves 
partners  contrary  to  the  ideas  of  the  breeder.  Each  mating  must 
have  its  own  yard,  unless  the  place  where  more  than  one  family 
is  kept  is  large  enough  to  allow  each  family  the  exclusive  use 
of  a  part  of  it.  Under  such  circumstances  each  group  will  keep 
to  its  own  range. 

The  natural  food  of  the  ostrich  is  grass  and  the  leaves  of 
shrubs  and  trees.  In  domestication  it  is  usually  pastured  on 
alfalfa,  or  fed  on  alfalfa  hay,  according  to  the  season.  The 
alfalfa  is  often  supplemented  with  grain  (principally  corn),  and 
grit,  bone,  and  shell  are  provided  as  for  other  birds. 

Most  ostrich  growers  prefer  to  hatch  the  eggs  in  incubators, 
because  by  removing  the  eggs  from  the  nests  they  induce  the 
hens  to  lay  more,  and  because  the  young  ostriches  are  much 
easier  to  manage  when  by  themselves  than  when  with  the  old 
birds.  When  a  pair  of  ostriches  hatch  their  own  eggs,  the  hen 
sits  during  the  day  and  the  cock  at  night.  The  period  of  in- 
cubation is  six  weeks. 

Young  ostriches  are  fed  the  same  as  old  ones.  They  are 
kept  in  flocks  of  fifty  or  more  until  about  a  year  old,  when  the 
sexes  are  separated.  The  plumes  are  cut  for  the  first  time  when 
the  birds  are  between  six  and  seven  months  old.  Although  the 


237 


238  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

process  of  removing  these  feathers  is  called  plucking,  they  are 
not  drawn  out,  but  are  cut  close  to  the  skin.  The  object  is  to 
get  the  feather  immediately  after  it  is  grown,  before  it  can  be 
soiled  or  damaged  in  any  way.  At  that  time  the  quill  is  still 
full  of  blood.  Drawing  it  out  would  be  very  painful  to  the  bird, 
and  might  injure  the  wing  so  that  the  next  feather  that  grew 
would  be  defective.  The  stumps  of  the  feathers  are  allowed  to 
remain  until  they  are  dead  and  dry,  when  they  are  drawn  out 
easily.  In  South  Africa  the  Kafirs  draw  the  stumps  out  with 
their  teeth.  In  about  six  or  seven  months  after  the  stumps  are 
removed,  the  new  plumes  are  grown  and  the  process  of  plucking 
is  repeated. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
PIGEONS 

The  pigeon  is  the  only  species  of  aerial  bird  kept  in  do- 
mestication to  provide  food  for  man.  It  is  also  the  only  useful 
domestic  bird  that  is  able  to  maintain  itself  and  increase  in 
numbers  in  populous  districts  without  the  care  of  man. 

Description.  The  common  pigeon  is  about  the  size  of  the 
smallest  bantam  fowls.  It  is  a  plump,  hard-feathered  bird,  with 
a  short  neck,  a  round  head  free  from  ornamental  appendages, 
a  short  beak,  and  short  legs.  The  prevailing  color  is  a  dull, 
checkered  blue,  varying  in  shade  from  a  very  light  blue  to  nearly 
black.  The  blue  is  sometimes  replaced  by  red  with  similar  varia- 
tions in  shade.  There  are  also  white  pigeons,  black  pigeons, 
and  many  birds  in  which  all  the  colors  that  have  been  named 
are  irregularly  mixed. 

The  male  and  female  pigeons  are  not  distinguished  by  any 
regular  differences  of  size,  form,  color,  or  voice.  The  males  are 
usually  a  little  larger  and  coarser  looking,  and  make  themselves 
conspicuous  by  their  vain  posing  and  domineering  ways,  but 
none  of  these  characteristics  are  reliable  indications  of  sex.  The 
natural  voice  of  the  pigeon  is  a  soft,  gurgling  coo  repeated  over 
and  over  with  monotonous  effect.  It  is  sometimes  heavier  and 
more  prolonged  in  the  male,  but  except  in  the  Trumpeter  and 
Laugher  Pigeons,  in  which  the  voice  has  been  peculiarly  de- 
veloped, the  difference  in  the  voices  of  the  male  and  female  is 
not  marked.  Even  in  the  two  varieties  mentioned,  many  males 
have  such  poor  voices  that  the  voice  is  not  an  infallible  indica- 
tion of  the  sex.  The  most  expert  pigeon  breeders  are  often  in 
doubt  about  the  sex  of  some  pigeons  until  they  pair. 

239 


240 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


The  name  " pigeon"  is  from  the  Latin  pipio  (to  peep  or  chirp), 
and  came  into  the  English  language  from  the  French.  The 
Anglo-Saxon  name  for  the  bird  was  probably  dufa,  from  which 
we  have  the  word  "dove,"  which  is  still  sometimes  applied  to 
pigeons.  Diifa  was  derived  from  dufan  (to  plunge  into).  It 
seems  probable  that  the  name  was  given  because  of  the  pigeon's 
habit  of  dropping  almost  perpendicularly  when  descending  from 
an  elevated  position.  The  male  pigeon  is  called  a  cock,  the 
female  a  hen.  Young  pigeons  are  called  squabs,  squeakers,  or 
sometimes  squealers.  The  word  "squab,"  which  means  "fat," 

describes  the  characteristic 
appearance  of  the  nestling 
pigeon  ;  the  other  terms  re- 
fer to  the  noise  it  makes  as 
it  persistently  begs  for  food. 
Origin.  Domestic  pigeons 
are  all  descended  from  the 
wild  Blue  Rock  Pigeon  of 
the  Old  World.  Although 
many  of  the  improved  va- 
rieties have  been  greatly 
changed  in  form,  they  are 
all  perfectly  fertile  when  bred  together.  The  Blue  Rock  Pigeon 
is  found  in  the  wild  state  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.  "Fancy 
Pigeons,"  by  James  C.  Lyell,  the  best  authority  on  the  subject, 
contains  this  statement :  "  The  British  Blue  Rock  inhabits 
the  rocks  and  caves  on  our  seacoasts,  as  well  as  precipitous 
inland  rocks,  and  certainly  the  difference  between  this  bird  and 
a  common  blue  flying  tumbler  is  very  little.  Their  color  is  iden- 
tical, their  size  almost  so.  ...  In  the  west  of  Scotland,  where 
fanciers  keep  and  show  common  pigeons,  the  wild  Blue  Rock 
domesticated  is  the  bird  so  called." 

It  is  by  no  means  certain  that  these  wild  pigeons  are  a  true 
wild  race.  Considering  the  habits  of  the  pigeon  and  its  wide 


FIG.   183.    Tame   pigeons.    (Photograph 
from  Elmer  E.  Rice,  Boston,  Massachusetts) 


PIGEONS 


241 


distribution  in  England  centuries  ago,  it  seems  certain  that  many, 
if  not  all,  of  the  pigeons  now  found  wild  in  the  British  Isles  are 
descended  from  birds  once  domesticated.  Rock  Pigeons  of  the 


FIG.  184.  Flock  of  Dragoon  Pigeons1 

same  type,  however,  are  found  in  many  other  parts  of  the  Old 
World  and,  whether  wild  or  feral,  are  plainly  all  from  the 
same  original  stock.  The  American  Wild  Pigeon,  also  called 
the  Passenger  Pigeon,  which  was  once  found 
in  enormous  flocks  in  eastern  North  America, 
is  often  erroneously  mentioned  as  the  ances- 
tor of  domestic  pigeons.  The  Rock  Pigeon 
and  the  Passenger  Pigeon  are  of  different 
species  and  are  very  different  in  appearance 
and  habits.  The  Rock  Pigeon  is  what  is 
. called  a  shelf  builder. 

It  builds  its  nest  on 

a  ledge,  or  shelf,  and 


FIG.  185.  Flying 
Homer  Pigeon1 


will  rarely  even  alight  in  a  tree  or  a  bush. 
The  Passenger  Pigeon  is  a  wood  pigeon, 
nesting  and  roosting  in  trees. 

Distribution  in  ancient  times.  The 
pigeon  was  domesticated  at  a  very  early 
stage  of  civilization.  Like  the  fowl,  the 
duck,  and  the  goose,  it  was  well  known 
to  all  civilized  peoples  of  antiquity.  To  what  extent  the  distri- 
bution of  pigeons  in  domestication  followed  the  early  migrations 

1  Photograph  from  Elmer  E.  Rice,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 


FIG.  1 86.  Silver  Runt 
Pigeon1 


242 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


FIG.  187.   Swiss  Mondaine 
Pigeon 1 


of  the  human  race  is  not  known.  It  is  probable  that  pigeons 
were  domesticated  before  the  Aryan  migrations  began,  and  also 
that  the  domestic  stock  was  sometimes  taken  by  Aryan  colonists 
to  their  new  homes  ;  but  it  is  equally 
probable  that  at  various  times  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  earth  people  coming  to  new 
lands  domesticated  some  of  the  wild  rock 
pigeons  which  they  found  there. 

Improved  varieties.  Common  pigeons 
are  much  alike  the  world  over,  and  have 
changed  little  from  the  wild  race,  but  in 
many  different  parts 

of  the  Old  World  the  making  of  improved 
varieties  began  thousands  of  years  ago,  and 
in  some  places  peculiar  types  were  developed 
which  were  little  known  elsewhere  until 
modern  times.  The  varieties  of  the  pigeon 
are  so  numerous  that  it  is  practically  impos- 
sible to  make  a  complete  list  of  them.  At 
the  large  shows  in  this  country,  classes  are 
made  for  more  than  one 
;^fc  hundred  fifty  named  vari- 

W  eties,  in  about  forty  breeds.   In  many  of  these 

breeds  there  are  eight  or  ten  principal  color 
varieties,  and  an  indefinite  number  of  less 
popular  varieties,  specimens  of  which  com- 
pete in  a  miscellaneous  competition  in  what 
is  called  the  "  any  other  variety  class."  There 
are  probably  nearly  three  hundred  varieties 
of  pigeons  bred  in  America  and  England.  On 
the  continent  of  Europe  the  number  is  very 
much  greater.  The  Triganica  pigeon  has  one  hundred  fifty-two 
color  varieties,  and  it  is  said  that  another  variety  in  Germany, 

1  Photograph  from  Elmer  E.  Rice,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 


FIG.  iSS.  Splashed 
Homer1 


FIG.  189.  Blue-barred 
Homer1 


PIGEONS 


243 


FIG.  190.  White  Hen  Pigeons.   (Pho- 
tograph from  Elmer  E.  Rice,  Boston, 
Massachusetts) 


not  known  in  England  and  America,  has  one  hundred  thirty- 
eight  color  varieties.  Where  varieties  are  so  numerous,  many 
of  the  color  differences  are  necessarily  slight,  and  only  those 

who  know  them  well  can 
readily  distinguish  the  dif- 
ferent varieties  at  sight ; 
others  are  bewildered  when 
they  attempt  to  do  so.  In 
this  chapter  only  the  most 
pronounced  color  varieties 
and  the  breeds  of  most 
interest  to  beginners  will 
be  described,  but  some  of 
the  most  interesting  of  the 
others  will  be  mentioned,  to 
illustrate  the  range  of  the  improved  types  developed  by  fanciers. 
The  Carrier  Pigeon.  The  homing  instinct  —  that  is,  the  fac- 
ulty of  finding  the  way  home  after  wandering  or  being  taken 
away  from  it  —  is  found  in 
animals  of  all  kinds.  In  some 
kinds  of  animals  it  is  much 
more  highly  developed  than 
in  others,  and  some  animals 
of  each  kind  have  more  of  it 
than  is  usual  with  their  spe- 
cies. It  is  well  known  that 
migratory  birds  usually  re- 
turn to  the  same  localities 
season  after  season,  and  that 
certain  pairs  often  return  to 
the  same  vicinity  year  after 

year  and  build  their  nests  in  the  same  places.  When  this  instinct 
is  highly  developed  in  a  wild  bird,  its  habit  of  returning  to  the 
same  nest  is  of  great  interest  to  those  who  observe  it,  but  it  has 


FIG.  191.  Young  Jacobin  Pigeons.   (Pho- 
tograph from  E.  R.  B.  Chapman,  Stone- 
ham,  Massachusetts) 


244  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

no  particular  value.  In  a  domestic  bird  the  homing  instinct  or 
habit  is  of  service  because  the  owner  of  a  bird  relies  upon  it  to 
make  the  bird  return  always  to  the  place  which  he  has  provided  for 
it,  instead  of  taking  shelter  elsewhere  or  remaining  where  noc- 
turnal enemies  will  find  it  an  easy  prey.  In  the  domestic  land 
birds  the  instinct  has  no  further  use  than  this,  but  in  pigeons 
which,  while  thoroughly  domesticated,  retain  full  power  of  flight, 
the  development  of  the  homing  faculty  makes  it  possible  to 


FIG.  192.    Muffed  Tumblers  with  "  saddle  "  color  pattern.    (Photograph  from 
E.  R.  B.  Chapman,  Stoneham,  Massachusetts) 

use  them  as  a  means  of  communication  when  it  is  necessary 
to  transmit  short  letters  with  great  dispatch. 

It  is  known  that  pigeons  were  used  as  messengers  in  war 
about  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era.  An  Egyptian  bas- 
relief  of  about  1350  B.C.  shows  pigeons  being  released  from 
cages  just  as  they  are  now  released  in  flying  matches.  The 
homing  instinct  is  so  strong  in  the  common  pigeon  that  any 
one  familiar  with  its  habits  may  easily  suppose  that  pigeons 
were  used  to  carry  messages  almost  as  soon  as  men  had  devised 
means  of  communication  by  writing  upon  any  material  which 


PIGEONS 


245 


the  birds  could  carry  in  their  flight.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  in  very  ancient  times  pigeons  were  bred  and  trained  espe- 
cially for  work  of  this  kind  in  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Rome. 

The  pigeon  which  in  England  and  America  now  goes  by  the 
name  of  "  Carrier  Pigeon"  is  a  type  developed  as  a  messenger 
pigeon  in  Persia  and  from  that  country  distributed  to  many 
parts  of  the  world.  As  bred  in  Asia  it  was  larger  and  stronger 


FIG.  193.  Feeding  pigeons  on  Boston  Common.    (Photograph  from 
Elmer  E.  Rice,  Boston,  Massachusetts) 

than  the  common  pigeon,  and  had  a  cere,  or  convoluted  mem- 
brane, around  each  eye  and  at  the  juncture  of  the  head  and  the 
beak.  It  is  thought  that  this  type  of  Carrier  may  have  been 
taken  from  Asia  Minor  to  England  at  the  time  of  the  Crusades, 
but  nothing  definite  is  known  of  it  in  Great  Britain  until  the 
seventeenth  century.  This  old  type  of  Carrier  and  several  closely 
related  varieties  were  used  for  messengers,  and  also  in  flying 
competitions,  until  the  variety  next  described  was  developed. 
When  the  Carrier  Pigeon  was  bred  for  carrying  messages,  no 


246  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

attention  was  paid  to  its  color.  Pigeon  fanciers  who  were  not 
interested  in  pigeon  flying,  but  liked  the  Carrier  for  its  other 
characters,  early  developed  many  distinct  color  varieties  and  also 
gave  special  attention  to  the  form  and  carriage  of  the  bird  and 
to  the  development  of  the  ceres  around  the  eyes  and  on  the 
beak.  The  Carrier  Pigeon  is  now  bred  only  as  an  exhibition  bird. 
The  Antwerp  Homer.  Beginning  sometime  early  in  the  last 
century,  breeders  of  flying  pigeons  at  Antwerp,  in  Belgium, 
developed  a  race  which  soon  became  celebrated  for  superior 
development  of  the  homing  faculty  and  for  great  speed  and 
endurance.  This  race  was  at  first  called  the  Antwerp  Carrier. 
When  the  invention  of  the  telegraph 
made  the  services  of  pigeons  as  mes- 
sengers on  land  unnecessary,  pigeons 
that  could  fly  long  distances  were  still 
bred  and  trained  for  competitive  flying 
matches.  In  these,  as  a  rule,  they  car- 
ried no  messages  ;  the  object  was  to  see 
which  bird  would  reach  home  first.  So 

FIG.  194.  Flying  Homer1  ,,  ,,  .      . 

gradually  the  term  homer  was  substi- 
tuted for  "carrier,"  and  the  pigeons  now  called  Homers,  or 
Homing  Pigeons,  are  the  Antwerp  Homing  Pigeons.  Good 
birds  of  this  type  are  larger  and  stronger  than  the  common 
pigeon,  and  have  a  bolder,  more  confident  bearing  and  a  more 
attractive  carriage.  They  show  their  good  breeding  very  plainly. 
Many  of  the  pigeons  called  Homers  are  crosses  or  grades  of 
the  Antwerp  Homer,  and  are  not  much  better  in  any  way  than 
ordinary  pigeons. 

The  true  Homer  is  also  the  most  popular  type  of  pigeon  for 
the  production  of  squabs  for  market.  Its  great  prolificacy,  strong 
constitution,  quick  growth,  and  large  size  make  it  a  favorite  with 
squab  growers.  As  bred  for  flying  or  for  market,  Homers  are 
of  various  colors,  and  the  color  varieties  are  not  distinct  except 

1  Photograph  from  C.  E.  Twombley,  Medford,  Massachusetts. 


PIGEONS  247 

as  occasionally  a  breeder  makes  a  specialty  of  producing  birds 
of  some  particular  color.  Many  pigeon  fanciers  breed  Homers 
solely  for  exhibition.  The  Exhibition  Homer  has  many  dis- 
tinct color  varieties  —  Blue,  Silver,  Mealy,  Blue  Checker,  Black 
Checker,  Black,  Red  Checker,  White,  Yellow. 

Tumbler  and  Tippler  Pigeons.  The  flying  powers  of  pigeons 
have  been  developed  for  other  purposes  as  well  as  for  travel- 
ing long  distances.  In  rising  or  descending  in  flight  a  pigeon 
sometimes  turns  a  somersault  in  the  air.  This  trait  has  been 
developed  in  certain  races  so  that  many  birds  will  perform  the 
feat  very  often.  These  races  are  called  Tumblers.  They  are 


FIG.  195.  Squab-breeding  Homers.    (Photograph  from  Elmer  E.  Rice, 
Boston,  Massachusetts) 

found  all  over  Europe  and  Asia  and  in  a  few  localities  in 
America.  The  common  Tumblers  perform  in  the  air,  usually 
at  some  distance  from  the  ground,  the  tumbling  of  individual 
birds  being  an  occasional  feature  of  the  evolutions  of  a  flock 
circling  about  in  the  vicinity  of  its  home.  From  this  common 
Tumbler  more  highly  specialized  types  have  been  developed. 
The  breeding  of  these  types  has  become  something  of  an  art, 
and  in  some  cases  the  sport  of  flying  them  has  become  a  well- 
organized  recreation. 

By  breeding  together  specimens  which  performed  well  when 
flying,  Tumblers  were  finally  produced  in  which  the  tumbling 
propensity  was  so  exaggerated  that  they  could  not  fly  but,  after 


248 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


FIG.  196.  Clean-legged 
Red  Tumbler l 


a  few  somersaults,  alighted  on  their  feet.     These  birds  were 
called  Inside  Tumblers,  or  Parlor  Tumblers,  to  distinguish  them 
from  the  common  Tumblers,  which  required  more  room  for 
— i     their  evolutions  than  any  ordinary  building 
^t  afforded.    Although   they  are  incapable  of 

m^          flight,  the  Parlor  Tumblers  can  rise  a  short 
^H  'tM         distance  before  they  fall.    The  Roller  is  a 
jfl  Tumbler  which  turns  many  somersaults  so 

^•HB^  rapidly  that  each  revolution  of  its  body  is 

'^r;"***  m  made  m  a  verY  small  space.  A  high-flying 
Roller  falls  while  rolling  in  the  air.  An  In- 
side Roller  turns  over  and  over  backward 
on  the  ground. 
Breeders  of  common  Tumblers  do  not  give  them  liberty,  but 
release  them  from  their  loft  only  when  they  wish  to  see  the  birds 
perform,  and,  by  feeding  them  immediately  upon  their  return, 
coax  and  train  them  to  return  to  the  loft  soon  after  being  re- 
leased. A  good  performer  is  soon  exhausted  by  tumbling,  and 
is  quite  willing  to  return  to  the  loft  in  a  short  time.  But  not  all 
birds  of  Tumbler  stock  are  good  and  persistent  performers,  and 
often  birds  that  do 
not  perform  prefer 
liberty  for  a  longer 
period  to  the  food 
that  is  waiting  for 
them  in  the  loft. 
Birds  have  some- 
times been  com- 
pelled to  remain  in 
the  air  for  a  long 
time.  As  a  result  of  this  treatment  of  poor  Tumblers  a  type 
of  Tumbler  has  been  produced  which  will  perform  more  or  less 
when  ascending  or  descending,  but  which,  having  risen  to  a 

1  Photograph  from  E.  R.  B.  Chapman,  Stoneham,  Massachusetts. 


FIG.  197.   Muffed,  or  Feather-legged,  Tumblers1 


PIGEONS 


249 


high  elevation,  will  remain  for  hours  circling  over  its  home  and 
perhaps  occasionally  flying  away  and  returning.  Tumblers  of 
this  type  can  remain  in  the  air  for  five  or 
six  hours.  In  flying  them  for  sport  the  object 
is  to  see  which  flock  will  remain  in  the 
air  longest.  The  tumbling  habit  was  gradu- 
ally bred  out  of  the  high-flying  birds,  and 
after  a  time  many  of  them  did  not  tumble 
at  all.  Such  birds  were  then  called  Tipplers 
("  tipple  "  having  in  some  English  dialects 
the  meaning  of  "  tumble  ").  The  modern 
Tippler  Pigeon  is  a  bird 
in  which  the  tendency  to 


FIG.  198.  English 
Owl  Pigeon l 


FIG.  199.  Fnglish  Red 
Trumpeter  Pigeon 1 


rise  to  a  great  height  and  remain  there  for  a 

long  time  has  been  developed  to  the  utmost, 

as  the  tendency  to  return  home  from  great 

distances  has  been  developed  in  the  Flying 

Homer.   Performing  Tumblers  and  Tipplers 

are  usually  bred  for  performance  without  re- 
gard to  color,  and  the  colors  in  a  flock  of 
the  same  breeding  may 
be,  and  nearly  always  are, 
various.  Exhibition  stocks  of  Tumblers  and 
Tipplers  are  bred  in  many  distinct  color 
varieties. 

The  Fantail  Pigeon.  The  Fantail  Pigeon 
originated  in  India.  The  fan-shaped  tail, 
from  which  this  variety  takes  its  name,  was 
developed  by  selection  to  increase  the  number 
of  the  large,  straight  main  tail  feathers. 
Normally  a  pigeon  has  from  twelve  to  six- 


FIG.  200.    English 

Saddle  Trumpeter 

Pigeon1 


teen  of  these  feathers  ;    in  the  ordinary  Fantail  the  number 
has  been  increased  to  twenty-four  or  twenty-six.    Many  of  the 

1  Photograph  from  E.  R.  B.  Chapman,  Stoneham,  Massachusetts. 


250 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


FIG.  201.  White  Runt 
Pigeon l 


specimens  in  which  this  character  is  highly  developed  have  a 
much  greater  number  of  tail  feathers.  It  is  said  that  forty-two 
feathers  have  been  counted  in  a  tail.  A  tail  in  which  there  are 
so  many  feathers  cannot  be  carried  in 
the  natural  position  ;  it  spreads,  forming 
a  major  segment  of  a  circle,  and  at  the 
same  time  it  is  elevated  until,  in  speci- 
mens with  very  full  tails,  the  highest  tail 
feathers  stand  nearly  perpendicular.  To 
balance  the  large  tail  carried  in  this  po- 
sition the  Fantail  has  to  carry  its  head 
very  far  back.  •  This  makes  the  breast 
very  prominent.  The  bird  cannot  fly 
well,  and  when  walking  about  it  appears 
to  be  strutting  to  make  a  display  of  its 
spectacular  tail.  Its  appearance  is  in  this  respect  deceptive,  for 
it  is  a  very  modest  bird  and  has  difficulty  in  balancing  itself  in 
any  other  position.  The  Fantail  is  gentle  and  affectionate,  and 
is  the  best  of  all  pigeons  for  those  who  want 
birds  for  pets.  It  is  bred  in  many  color 
varieties.  The  White  Fantail  is  the  most 
popular,  because  it  is  the  most  showy  and 
the  easiest  to  produce  with  uniform  color  in 
a  flock. 

Pouter  Pigeons.  All  pigeons  have  in  some 
measure  the  power  of  inflating  the  crop  with 
air.  In  the  Pouter  Pigeons  this  power  has 
been  developed  and  its  exercise  encouraged 
to  such  an  extent  that  in  many  specimens 
the  inflated  crop  is  as  large  as  all  the  rest  of 
the  bird.  Pouters  were  introduced  into  Eng- 
land from  Holland  several  hundred  years  ago.  They  were  at  first 
called  Croppers.  The  common  Pouter  is  a  large  pigeon  with 

1  Photograph  from  Elmer  E.  Rice,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 


FIG.  202.  White 
Pouter  Pigeon 


PIGEONS 


251 


long  legs.    It  usually  stands  in  a  very  erect  position.    There  is 
a  race  of  dwarf  pigeons  of  this  type,  called  Pigmy  Pouters. 

Other  important  types.  One  of  the  most  attractive  pigeons 
is  the  Jacobin,  which  has  the  feathers  of  the  neck  turned  upward, 
forming  a  hood  which  sometimes  almost  conceals  the  head. 
The  Turbit  and  Owl  Pigeons  are  distinguished  by  a  frill  of 
feathers  on  the  breast,  and  by  the  peculiar  beak  and  face,  which 
are  very  short.  The  Dragoon  is  a  large,  showy  pigeon  of  the 
Carrier  type.  The  Trumpeter  is  distinguished  by  a  crest,  which 
greatly  obstructs  its  sight,  as  well  as  by  the  peculiar  development 
of  the  voice,  to  which  it  owes  its  name.  The  Runt  is  a  very  large 
pigeon  bred  both  for  exhibi- 
tion and  for  the  table.  Some 
squab  growers  prize  it  very 
highly  ;  others  say  that  the 
smaller  and  more  prolific 
Homer  is  more  profitable  for 
squab  breeding.  The  use  of 
a  term  commonly  applied 
to  undersized,  ill-developed 


FIG.  203.  Fowl-like,  or  Maltese  Hen, 
Pigeons  l 


creatures  as  the  name  of  one 
of  the  largest  pigeons  is  one 
of  the  curiosities  of  nomenclature.  The  explanation,  however,  is 
simple.  In  England  in  old  times  common  pigeons  were  called 
runts.  The  pigeon  now  called  the  Runt  was  introduced  into  Eng- 
land from  Spain,  and  was  called  by  early  writers  on  pigeons  the 
Spanish  Runt,  meaning  the  common  pigeon  of  Spain.  With 
the  disuse  of  the  term  "runt"  to  designate  the  common  pigeon, 
the  term  "Spanish"  was  dropped  from  the  designation  of  the 
improved  breed,  and  it  became  simply  the  Runt.  Besides  the 
Runt  just  mentioned  there  is  another  large  pigeon,  once  called 
the  Leghorn  Runt,  which  belongs  to  the  class  of  Fowl-like,  or 
Hen,  Pigeons,  so  called  because  in  shape  they  are  strikingly  like 

1  Photograph  from  Elmer  E.  Rice,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 


252 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


fowls.    The  most  familiar  representative  of  this  class  is  the 
Maltese  Hen  Pigeon. 

History  in  domestication.  The  history  of  the  pigeon  in 
domestication  presents  some  very  interesting  features.  Its  use 
as  a  messenger  has  been  mentioned.  From  very  early  times 


FIG.  204.  Nun  Pigeons  * 

people  of  privileged  classes  took  advantage  of  the  habits  of 
the  pigeon  to  grow  the  birds  for  their  own  use  at  the  expense 
of  the  community.  The  Assyrians  and  some  other  ancient  peo- 
ples considered  the  pigeon  sacred  to  certain  of  their  deities. 
Sometimes  all  pigeons  were  so  regarded  ;  at  other  times  and 
places  only  white  pigeons  were  sacred,  those  of  other  colors 
being  used  by  the  common  people. 

In  medieval  times  in  England,  the  lord  of  a  manor,  when 
leasing  farms  to  tenants,  reserved  the  right  to  let  his  pigeons 

forage  over  them.  As  pigeons  live 
mostly  upon  grains  and  seeds,  caring 
little  for  green  vegetation  and  insects, 
the  newly  planted  fields  of  the  farmer 
were  the  favorite  feeding  places  of 
his  landlord's  pigeons.  The  landlords, 
being  able  to  keep  pigeons  without 
other  expense  than  that  of  providing 
shelter  for  them,  built  large  dovecots 
near  the  manor  houses  and  kept  their  tables  plentifully  supplied 
with  pigeons.  At  one  time  it  was  estimated  that  there  were 
more  than  twenty  thousand  such  dovecots  in  England.  The 

1  Photograph  from  E.  R.  B.  Chapman,  Stoneham,  Massachusetts. 


FIG.  205.  German  Frillback 
Pigeons1 


PIGEONS  253 

destruction  of  crops  by  the  occupants  of  these  caused  serious 
losses  to  the  farmers  and  a  great  deal  of  trouble  between  them 
and  their  landlords.  This  form  of  protection  for  roving  pigeons 
in  agricultural  districts  was  finally  abandoned. 

No  doubt  the  selfishness  of  landlords  was  originally  responsi- 
ble for  this  method  of  protecting  pigeons,  but  the  government 
of  the  country  at  that  time  also  had  something  to  do  with  it. 
Pigeon  manure  is  very  rich  in  niter,  which  in  those  days  the 
government  had  difficulty  in  procuring  in  such  quantities  as  it 
needed  for  the  manufacture  of  gunpowder ;  so  it  adopted  the 
policy  of  regulating  the  construction  of  pigeon  houses,  prescrib- 
ing the  method  of  disposing  of  the  droppings  to  conserve  the 
niter  in  them  and  appointing  official  inspectors  to  see  that  its 
regulations  were  observed,  and  collectors  to  gather  the  pigeon 
manure.  It  was  much  easier  to  do  this  when  large  flocks  were 
kept  by  landlords  than  when  an  equal  number  of  the  birds  were 
kept  in  small  flocks  by  the  tenants. 

Place  in  domestication.  Although  many  farmers  keep  small 
flocks  of  pigeons,  the  pigeon  in  modern  times  is  a  city  bird 
rather  than  a  country  bird.  The  strong  flying  types  are  all  well 
adapted  to  an  independent  life  in  towns  and  cities,  where,  as 
has  been  stated,  they  often  become  a  nuisance.  This  form  of 
nuisance  might  be  partly  abated  and  perhaps  prevented  if  city 
authorities  would  systematically  and  humanely  exterminate  the 
free  flocks  of  common  pigeons,  and  encourage  citizens  to  breed 
improved  varieties  under  proper  control. 

Pigeon  culture  does  not  afford  as  many  or  as  good  opportuni- 
ties for  profit  as  poultry  culture  does,  but  it  is  suited  to  condi- 
tions under  which  poultry  do  not  thrive.  A  flock  of  pigeons 
may  be  permanently  maintained  by  a  city  resident  who  has  so 
little  room  for  domestic  birds  that,  if  he  kept  poultry,  he  would 
have  to  renew  his  flock  every  year.  A  few  pigeons  may  be  kept 
by  any  one  who  can  provide  a  nesting  place  for  them  where  they 
will  be  safe  from  cats  and  rats.  In  this  country  the  growing  of 


254  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

squabs  has  been  widely  exploited  in  recent  years  as  a  profitable 
commercial  industry.  Near  large  cities  where  the  demand  for 
squabs  is  good,  squab  growing  on  a  large  scale  is  sometimes 
successful.  Elsewhere  the  small  flock  that  can  be  cared  for  in 
the  owner's  spare  time  is  likely  to  be  more  profitable. 

The  breeding  of  fancy  pigeons  is  also  almost  wholly  a  spare- 
time  occupation.  The  demand  for  fancy  pigeons  is  small  in 
comparison  with  the  demand  for  fancy  poultry,  and  a  pigeon 
fancier's  trade  rarely  grows  so  large  that  he  can  give  his  atten- 
tion to  it  exclusively.  In  Europe  the  breeding  of  pigeons  for 
exhibition  and  sport  is  more  popular  than  in  America,  but  the 
interest  is  growing  rapidly  in  this  country. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

MANAGEMENT  OF  PIGEONS 

Almost  every  child  knows  something  of  the  lives  of  the  com- 
mon pigeons  that  are  seen  at  large  in  both  city  and  country. 
Some  flocks  have  owners  who  take  a  slight  interest  in  them 
and  make  rude  provisions  for  their  safety  and  comfort.  Nearly 
all  the  country  flocks,  and  many  of  the  city  flocks,  are  in  this 
class.  But  there  are 
in  all  large  cities, 
and  in  some  smaller 
places,  many  flocks 
of  pigeons  which  no 
one  claims  to  own. 
They  build  their 
nests  in  high  cupo- 
las, in  the  belfries  of 
churches,  on  shel- 
tered ledges  under  FlG"  2°6"  Sma11  pigeon  house  and  flyl 
the  cornices  or  other  projections  of  high  buildings,  and  in  all 
sorts  of  places  from  which  they  cannot  be  easily  dislodged.  The 
streets  and  areas  of  a  great  city  afford  daily  food  sufficient  for 
vast  numbers  of  birds.  The  principal  part  of  this  is  fresh  oats 
scattered  by  thousands  of  horses  as  they  take  their  noon  meal 
from  pails  or  nose  bags,  and  oats  that,  passing  through  the  horses 
undigested,  are  mixed  with  the  dust  and  dirt  of  the  street. 
Very  large  quantities  of  food  also  fall  on  the  streets  from  torn 
bags  or  broken  boxes  as  cereal  products  are  carted  from  place  to 

1  The  photographs  for  illustrations  in  this  chapter,  when  not  credited  to  others,  are 
from  Elmer  E.  Rice,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

255 


256 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


place  and  handled  in  transportation.  Then  there  are  the  crumbs 
and  remnants  of  food  thrown  from  windows  by  innumerable 
people  who  carry  their  lunches  when  they  go  to  their  work  ; 
and  besides  these  a  great  deal  of  waste  food  from  the  occupants 
of  tenements,  as  well  as  from  many  hotel  and  restaurant  kitchens. 
Much  of  this  is  thrown  out  at  random,  but  often,  when  pigeons 
begin  to  frequent  places  where  food  supplies  are  regular,  the 
people  there  take  an  interest  in  the  birds  and  throw  out  more 
than  they  did  before.  From  all  these  various  sources  an  abun- 
dance of  food  is 
available  for  birds 
that  forage  on  the 
city  streets. 

The  pigeons  do 
their  part  in  saving 
this  waste  food,  but 
the  people  derive 
little  benefit  from 
the  saving,  because 
so  many  pigeons 
are  not  kept  under 
control,  where  their 
produce  may  be 
taken  and  used  when  it  is  ready.  Good  management  of  pigeons 
consists  in  keeping  them  so  that  the  owner  gets  all  the  benefits 
of  ownership.  Good  management  in  the  large  sense  requires 
that  all  pigeons  shall  be  owned  by  some  one  who  is  respon- 
sible for  them,  and  who  keeps  them  under  full  control  or  under 
partial  control,  as  the  circumstances  in  each  case  require. 

Size  of  flock.  A  flock  of  breeding  pigeons  may  contain  as 
many  pairs  as  can  nest  in  the  place  where  they  are  kept.  Most 
pigeon  keepers  prefer  lofts  about  12  or  14  feet  square,  because 
in  larger  spaces  it  is  harder  to  catch  the  birds  when  they  must 
be  handled,  and  in  many  ways  the  very  large  flock  makes  extra 


FIG.  207.  House  and  fly  for  a  small  flock 


MANAGEMENT  OF  PIGEONS 


257 


trouble  for  the  attendant.  A  place  with  a  floor  area  of  from  1 50 
to  200  square  feet  will  accommodate  from  fifty  to  sixty  pairs  of 
breeding  pigeons.  Except  when  undertaking  squab  breeding  on 
a  large  scale,  pigeon  keepers  usually  begin  with  a  small  number 
and  keep  most  of  the  increase  until  the  full  capacity  of  the  loft 
is  used. 

Quarters  for  pigeons.  A  pair  of  pigeons  may  be  kept  in 
a  coop,  box,  or  cage  about  3  feet  square,  and  2  or  3  feet  high. 
A  cage  4  or  5  feet  high,  or  one  as  high  as  the  room  in  which 
it  is  placed,  is  still 
better,  because  it 
will  allow  the  birds 
a  little  room  to  use 
their  wings.  If  such 
a  cage  has  a  few 
perches  at  various 
heights,  the  pigeons 
will  not  seem  to 
miss  their  liberty. 
Such  close  confine- 
ment, however,  is 
not  recommended 
except  for  those  who  cannot  provide  larger  quarters,  or  who 
merely  wish  to  keep  one  or  two  pair  a  short  time  for  observation. 
A  house  about  6  feet  square  makes  a  convenient  size  for  a  small 
breeding  flock  of  pigeons.  In  a  place  of  that  size  eight  or  ten 
pairs  may  be  kept.  Attached  to  it  there  should  be  a  wire- 
inclosed  fly,  as  pigeon  keepers  call  the  outdoor  compartment 
for  pigeons.  The  size  of  the  fly  can  be  adjusted  to  suit  the 
conditions  and  the  available  space.  The  larger  the  fly  the  better 
the  pigeons  will  like  it,  but  even  a  very  small  place  where  they 
can  be  much  in  the  open  air  and  lie  and  sun  themselves  is 
better  than  constant  confinement  indoors,  which  makes  them 
anemic  and  greatly  reduces  their  vitality. 


FIG.  208.   Small  barn  and  shed  arranged  for 
pigeon  keeping 


258 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


Where  the  space  for  pigeons  is  very  limited  and  there  is 
room  for  only  one  small  loft  and  fly,  breeding  operations  are 
closely  restricted.  Most  pigeon  fanciers  want  at  least  two  lofts 
of  this  size  —  one  for  the  breeding  birds,  the  other  for  the 
young  birds  that  no  longer  need  the  care  of  their  parents.  With 
such  facilities  the  work  in  the  breeding  loft  goes  on  better,  and 
promising  young  birds  can  be  kept  until  they  are  well  matured 
and  the  breeder  can  tell  whether  it  is  advisable  to  keep  some 

of  these  and  dispose 
of  a  part  of  the 
old  ones. 

To  provide  for 
larger  numbers  of 
birds,  either  more 
lofts  or  larger  lofts 
may  be  made.  A 
breeder  of  fancy 
pigeons  usually  pre- 
fers many  small 
compartments.  A 


FIG.  209.    Old  poultry  house  arranged  for  pigeons. 

(Photograph  from  Dr.  J.  G.  Robinson,  Pembroke, 

Massachusetts) 


breeder  of  squabs 
for  market  makes 
each  compartment 
as  large  as  is  convenient  and  builds  as  many  as  he  has  room  for. 
Buildings  for  pigeons  are  constructed  on  the  same  plans  as 
buildings  for  fowls.  The  furnishings  of  the  pigeon  loft  are 
different  from  those  of  the  poultry  house,  and  of  course 
the  fly  is  always  completely  inclosed.  Upper  floors  or  lofts  of 
buildings  are  used  for  pigeons  to  much  better  advantage  than  for 
poultry,  but  where  there  is  room  it  is  more  satisfactory  to  have 
all  quarters  for  pigeons  on  the  ground  floor. 

As  the  young  pigeons  remain  in  the  nest  and  are  fed  by 
the  parents  until  they  are  almost  full-grown,  each  pair  of  old 
pigeons  must  have  their  own  nesting  place.  As  has  been  stated, 


MANAGEMENT  OF  PIGEONS 


259 


the  domestic  pigeon  is  a  shelf  builder.  So  in  arranging  for  nests 
the  pigeon  keeper  builds  shelves  10  or  12  inches  apart,  and 
divides  these  into  compartments  about  12  inches  wide,  thus 
forming  pigeonholes.  Because  a  hen  pigeon  often  lays  again 
and  begins  to  incubate  before  a  pair  of  young  are  ready  to  leave 
the  nest,  it  is  usual  to  arrange  the  pigeonholes  in  pairs.  This 
is  sometimes  done  by  omitting  alternate  dividing  boards,  mak- 
ing each  pigeonhole  twice  the  size  required,  so  that  a  nest  can 


FIG.  210.  City  back-yard  squab  plant 

be  made  in  each  corner.  Some  people  prefer  to  have  single 
pigeonholes  and  to  arrange  them  in  double  sections  by  making 
each  alternate  perpendicular  board  project  several  inches  beyond 
the  front  edge  of  the  horizontal  shelf.  When  this  is  done,  a 
pair  of  pigeons  in  possession  of  one  side  of  a  double  section 
will  usually  claim  the  entire  section  and  prevent  others  from 
entering  it  even  when  they  are  themselves  using  only  one  side. 
For  indoor  perches  for  pigeons  individual  perches  shaped 
like  an  inverted  V  are  most  used.  These  are  attached  to  the 


260 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


wall,  one  above  another,  about  12  or  14  inches  apart.  The 
pigeons  rest  on  the  upper  edge  of  the  perch,  and  the  sloping 
sides  prevent  their  plumage  from  being  soiled  by  birds  roosting 
above  them.  In  the  outdoor  flies  running  boards  are  placed 
along  the  sides  to  make  exercising  and  resting  places  for  the 
birds,  for  they  usually  prefer  a  shelf  of  this  kind  to  the  ground. 
Long  perches  are  also  placed  in  the  fly  when  the  running  boards 


FIG.  211.  Running  boards  in  pigeon  fly.    (Photograph  from  Springer 
Brothers,  Bridgeton,  New  Jersey) 

do  not  give  room  for  all  the  pigeons  in  the  flock.  Out  of  doors 
the  birds  get  along  very  well  on  long  perches,  but  in  the  house 
each  wants  a  separate  perch.  Feed  hoppers  like  those  used  for 
fowls  are  used  in  pigeon  houses.  Drinking  vessels  for  pigeons 
should  be  of  the  fountain  type,  exposing  only  a  small  surface  of 
water,  because  if  the  vessel  is  open  the  birds  will  bathe  in  it. 
For  the  bath  any  circular  vessel  with  a  depth  of  4  or  5  inches 
and  a  diameter  of  1 8  inches  or  over  may  be  used. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  PIGEONS  261 

Ventilation  and  cleanliness.  The  ventilation  of  a  pigeon 
house  is  managed  in  the  same  way  as  that  of  a  poultry  house, 
by  adjusting  the  openings  in  the  front.  Most  kinds  of  pigeons  are 
very  rugged  and,  when  fully  feathered,  can  stand  a  great  deal 
of  cold.  When  a  house  is  open  in  winter,  some  of  the  young, 
unfledged  squabs  may  be  chilled  and  die  from  exposure,  but 
breeders  agree  that,  on  the  whole,  it  is  better  to  keep  the  win- 
dows or  other  openings  for  ventilation  partly  open  at  all  times. 
While  this  causes  some  loss  of  the  weaker  squabs,  it  keeps  the 
old  birds  in  much  better  condition  than  when  the  house  is 
tightly  closed. 

To  keep  the  loft 
looking  clean  and 
neat  the  droppings 
should  be  removed 
from  the  floor,  and 
from  all  shelves  that 

Can  be  cleaned  with-  FlG>  2I2>  Constant  water  supply  for  pigeons 

out  disturbing  breed- 
ing birds,  at  least  once  a  week.  Many  pigec^  keepers  clean  the 
houses  oftener  than  that,  but  if  the  ventilati  ^s  good  and  the 
droppings  are  dry  and  firm,  a  house  may  e  uncleaned  for 
weeks  or  months  without  detriment  to  the  birds.  It  is  cus- 
tomary to  keep  the  floor  of  the  pigeon  loft  thinly  covered  with 
fine  gravel,  coarse  sand,  sawdust,  or  chaff.  To  prevent  the' wind 
from  the  pigeons'  wings  from  blowing  this  from  the  middle  to 
the  sides  of  the  floor,  a  small  box  is  placed  in  the  middle  of 
the  floor.  Whenever  it  is  possible,  the  bath  pan  is  placed  out- 
doors, because  in  taking  a  bath  pigeons  splash  the  water  a  great 
deal,  and  if  they  are  given  the  bath  indoors,  they  will  make  a 
nasty  mess  of  the  house  floor  unless  it  is  perfectly  clean.  The 
bath  need  not  be  given  oftener  than  once  or  twice  a  week.  In 
bad  weather  it  is  better  to  let  them  go  without  a  bath  than  to 
have  them  take  one  and  get  chilled  before  their  feathers  dry. 


262  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

Handling  pigeons.  When  a  few  pigeons  in  a  small  loft  get  a 
great  deal  of  attention,  they  usually  become  very  tame  and  allow 
themselves  to  be  caught  at  any  time.  For  catching  pigeons  that 
are  shy,  pigeon  keepers  use  a  net,  called  a  landing  net,  such  as 
is  used  by  fishermen.  A  pigeon  is  held  securely  in  the  hand  by 
grasping  it  so  that  the  breast  of  the  bird  lies  in  the  palm  and 
one  wing  is  held  against  the  side  by  the  thumb  and  the  other  by 
the  fingers.  A  pigeon  may  also  be  carried  by  the  tips  of  the 
wings  by  bringing  them  together  over  the  back  and  letting  the 
bird  hang  by  them. 

Mating  pigeons.  The  beginner's  first  serious  difficulty  in  breed- 
ing pigeons  is  to  get  the  birds  in  his  loft  all  mated  and  each 

pair  attending  to 
the  work  of  hatch- 
ing and  rearing  its 
young.  As  has  been 
said,  the  sexes  can- 
not always  be  identi- 
fied by  appearance. 

M°St  °f  the 


Fie.  2,3.  Small  pigeon  house  and  fly 

sold    for    breeding 

are  young  birds  that  have  not  yet  mated.  Some  breeders  and 
dealers  are  very  expert  in  selecting  males  and  females,  but  all 
make  some  mistakes,  and  the  average  person  makes  a  great  many 
of  them.  There  are  two  ways  of  selling  pigeons.  The  most  com- 
mon way  is  to  sell  the  desired  number  of  birds,  the  seller  select- 
ing, according  to  his  best  judgment,  equal  numbers  of  males  and 
females,  with  the  understanding  that  if,  when  the  birds  mate, 
there  is  an  excess  of  one  sex,  he  will  make  a  suitable  exchange. 
The  other  way  is  to  sell  the  number  of  pairs  desired,  guaran- 
teeing them  as  mated  pairs  —  which  means  that  the  pairs  are 
all  known  to  be  properly  mated.  The  advantage  of  buying 
guaranteed  mated  pairs  is  that  the  question  of  mating  requires 
no  further  attention  at  the  outset,  but  the  prices  for  them  are 


263 


264 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


so  much  higher  than  for  those  not  known  to  be  mated,  that  most 
beginners  buy  on  the  other  plan. 

Where  the  flock  is  small  and  the  birds  are  to  be  allowed  to 
select  their  own  mates,  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  watch  them  closely 
until  all  are  mated  or  it  is  evident  that  there  is  a  surplus  of  one 
sex.  Surplus  males  will  quarrel  persistently  with  the  other  males 
and  endeavor  to  coax  their  mates  away  from  them.  The  unmated 
males  must  be  provided  with  mates  or  removed  from  the  loft. 
Unmated  females  are  not  so  readily  noticed  except  when  there 
are  only  a  few  birds  in  the  loft,  but  by  close  watching  they 

will  soon  be  found. 
When  a  start  is  to 
be  made  with  quite 
a  large  number  of 
unmated  birds,  the 
best  plan  is  to  put 
the  flock  first  in  a 
different  apartment 

from  that  in  which 
FIG.  215.  Neat  pigeon  house  and  fly 

they  are  to  be  kept 

permanently,  and,  as  each  pair  mate  and  begin  to  build  their 
nest,  remove  them  to  their  permanent  quarters. 

When  it  is  desired  to  mate  a  particular  male  and  female,  the 
best  way  is  to  place  them  one  in  each  side  of  a  small  coop  with 
a  wire  partition  across  the  middle.  This  coop  should  be  put 
where  they  cannot  see  other  pigeons.  Sometimes  one  of  the 
birds  shows  a  decided  antipathy  to  the  other.  In  such  a  case  it 
is,  as  a  rule,  useless  to  continue  efforts  to  induce  them  to  pair. 
In  most  cases,  however,  the  birds  will  soon  show  mutual  affection. 
When  this  stage  is  reached,  they  may  be  taken  to  the  loft  and 
released.  Short  coarse  straw  or  fine  twigs  should  be  placed 
where  pigeons  that  are  building  nests  can  take  what  they  want. 
No  nest  box  or  pan  is  really  needed,  but  many  pigeon  keepers 
use  a  nest  bowl,  called  a  nappy,  of  earthenware  or  wood  fiber. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  PIGEONS 


265 


Feeding.  The  food  of  pigeons  consists  almost  wholly  of  grains 
and  seeds.  The  principal  grains  used  in  America  are  wheat 
and  corn  (usually  cracked  corn).  Field  peas  are  also  used  quite 
extensively.  While  pigeons  will  eat  the  same  kinds  of  ground- 
grain  products  as  are  fed  to  poultry,  pigeon  keepers  rarely 
use  such  foods.  They  prefer  to  give  a  variety  of  hard  grains 
and  seeds.  Those  who  keep  large  stocks  of  pigeons  often  buy 
separately  the  feeds  which  they  use,  and  mix  the  grains  to  suit 
themselves,  or  feed  them  in  such  alternation  as  seems  desirable. 
People  who  keep  only  a  few  pairs  of  pigeons  usually  find  it 
more  satisfactory  to 
buy  the  feed  mix- 
tures sold  by  dealers 
in  pigeons' supplies. 
As  a  rule,  old  grain 
and  seed  that  are 
very  dry  and  hard 
are  best  for  pigeons, 
and  especially  for  ex- 
hibition and  breed-  FlG.  2lC.  An  attractive  squab  plant 
ing  stock. 

The  most  common  practice  is  to  give  the  feed  in  hoppers, 
keeping  a  supply  always  before  the  birds.  This  is  done  princi- 
pally because  it  is  the  most  convenient  way,  particularly  for  those 
who  are  away  from  home  a  great  deal.  For  them  hopper  feed- 
ing is  really  necessary,  but  pigeon  fanciers  seem  to  agree  that 
when  the  birds  can  be  fed  by  throwing  on  the  floor  of  the  loft 
or  the  fly,  two  or  three  times  a  day,  just  about  the  quantity  of 
food  that  they  need  for  a  meal,  they  do  better  and  the  cost  of 
food  is  less  than  by  the  hopper  method.  Unlike  poultry,  pigeons 
require  considerable  quantities  of  salt.  The  common  practice  is 
to  keep  it  before  them  in  the  form  of  lumps  of  rock  salt,  one 
large  lump  being  enough  for  the  birds  in  a  loft  of  ordinary  size. 
Oyster  shell  should  also  be  supplied. 


266 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


How  pigeons  rear  their  young.    After  a  pair  of  pigeons  have 
completed  their  nest,  the  male  seems  to  come  at  once  to  the 

conclusion  that  home  duties 
demand  his  mate's  constant 
attention.  At  the  nest  he 
struts  about,  cooing  and  coax- 
ing, entering  the  nest  him- 
self, then  leaving  it  and 
plainly  showing  his  wish  that 
she  should  take  the  nest. 
If  she  goes  away  from  the 
nest,  he  follows  her  with  his 
head  high  and  his  neck  in- 
flated. His  cooing  turns  to 

FIG.  217.  Homer  squabs  four  weeks  old  i  v 

scolding.    He  pecks  at  her 

and  will  not  give  her  a  moment's  peace  until  she  returns  to  the 
nest.  The  hen  lays  one  egg  and,  after  laying  it,  spends  most  of 
her  time  standing  on  the  nest  until  the  second  or  third  day  after, 
when  she  lays  another  egg 
and  immediately  begins  to 
sit.  She  seems  to  know  that 
if  she  sat  on  the  first  egg 
before  laying  the  other,  one 
squab  would  hatch  two  or 
three  days  earlier  than  the 
other,  and  the  second  squab, 
being  smaller  and  weaker, 
would  have  a  hard  time. 
The  work  of  incubation  is 
done  mostly  by  the  hen,  the 
cock  taking  only  a  minor 
part.  For  about  an  hour  in 
the  middle  of  the  morning  and  again  in  the  middle  of  the  after- 
noon he  relieves  her  on  the  nest,  giving  her  a  chance  to  eat,  drink, 


FIG.  218.  Carneaux  squabs  four 
weeks  old 


MANAGEMENT  OF  PIGEONS  267 

and  take  some  exercise.  Counting  from  the  time  the  last  egg 
was  laid,  the  period  of  incubation  is  sixteen  or  seventeen  days. 
Young  squabs,  like  all  other  young  birds  that  are  naked  when 
hatched,  are  ugly  little  things.  They  have  apparently  insatiable 
appetites,  and  their  mouths  seem  to  be  always  open.  They  are 
fed  by  the  parents  with  pigeon  milk,  which  is  simply  the 
usual  food  of  the  old  birds  softened  in  the  crop.  The  pigeon 
has  the  power  of  disgorging  the  contents  of  the  crop  at  will, 
and  feeds  its  young  by  forcing  food  from  its  crop  into  their 
mouths.  When  they  are  well  fed,  the  squabs  grow  very  fast. 


FIG.  219.  Dressed  squabs.    (Photograph  from  Dr.  J.  G.  Robinson, 
Pembroke,  Massachusetts) 

Young  Homers  four  weeks  old  often  weigh  from  three  quarters 
of  a  pound  to  a  pound,  or  even  more,  and  are  ready  for  market. 
Many  of  the  fancy  varieties  of  pigeons  are  hard  to  rear,  because 
the  abnormal  structure  of  the  beak  or  the  interference  of  pecu- 
liar feather  characters  prevent  the  old  ones  from  feeding  their 
young  properly.  All  the  breeds  described  in  detail  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter  are  known  as  good  feeders. 

Pigeons  will  breed  nearly  the  year  round,  stopping  only  while 
molting,  but  in  cold  climates  many  young  birds  die  in  the  nests 
in  winter.  Those  who  are  breeding  for  market  take  this  as  one 
of  the  risks  of  their  business.  If  only  half  of  the  squabs  are 


268  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

reared  in  winter,  the  profits  may  be  as  great  as  when  the  actual 
results  are  much  better,  because  in  winter  the  prices  are  much 
higher  than  at  the  seasons  when  squabs  are  most  easily  produced. 
Fanciers  do  not  usually  allow  their  pigeons  to  breed  during  the 
coldest  winter  months,  but  take  the  eggs  from  the  nests  or  keep 
the  sexes  separate  until  spring  approaches.  The  object  of  the 
fancier  is  to  produce  specimens  having  the  finest  possible  devel- 
opment of  form  and  color.  He  cannot  do  this  successfully  under 
conditions  that  cause  heavy  losses.  The  birds  may  grow  under 
such  conditions  but  will  not  have  the  superior  quality  that  he 
desires,  and  so  he  finds  it  more  profitable  to  concentrate  all  his 
attention  upon  the  birds  that  he  can  produce  when  the  weather 
is  most  favorable. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

CANARIES 

The  canary  is  the  only  common  cage  bird.  There  are  about 
fifty  kinds  of  birds  that  make  desirable  pets,  but  very  few  of 
them  will  breed  in  small  cages,  and  many  will  not  breed  in  con- 
finement even  when  kept  in  large  aviaries.  In  the  United 
States  the  number  of  kinds  of  cage  birds  is  restricted  by  state 
laws  which  prohibit  keeping  native  song  birds  in  captivity. 
Such  laws  are  necessary  to  preserve  the  birds.  Before  these 
laws  were  passed,  great  numbers  of  song  birds  were  trapped 
every  year  to  send  to  Europe,  where  the  keeping  of  cage  birds 
as  pets  is  more  popular  than  in  America.  Song  birds  from  other 
parts  of  the  world  may  be  kept  in  this  country,  but  most  of 
them  are  so  scarce  and  expensive  that  few  people  would  buy 
them  even  if  the  canary  were  not  a  more  satisfactory  pet. 

Description.  The  common  domestic  canary  is  a  small  bird, 
about  five  inches  in  length,  very  lively  and  sprightly  in  manner, 
and  in  color  yellow  or  a  greenish  gray  and  yellow.  The  male 
and  female  are  so  much  alike  that  the  sex  cannot  be  positively 
determined  by  the  appearance.  Although  it  often  happens  that 
the  male  is  more  slender  in  form  and  brighter  in  color,  the 
voice  is  a  better  index  of  sex  and,  in  mature  birds  of  good 
singing  stock,  is  very  reliable.  The  male  is  the  singer.  The 
female  also  has  a  singing  voice,  but  it  is  so  inferior  in  quality 
to  that  of  the  male  that  few  people  care  for  it. 

Origin.  The  domestic  canary  belongs  to  the  finch  family 
and  is  found  wild  in  the  Canary  Islands  (from  which  it  takes 
its  name)  and  in  a  number  of  other  islands  in  that  part  of  the 
world.  The  color  of  the  wild  birds  is  described,  by  some  who 

269 


2/0 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


FIG.  220.  Tricolor 
Canary l 


have  seen  them,  as  greenish-gray,  changing  to  a  greenish-yellow 
on  the  breast  and  under  parts.  Other  observers  describe  the 
wild  birds  of  some  localities  as  brownish. 

The  canary  was  introduced  into  Europe 
about  four  hundred  years  ago.  As  the  story 
goes,  a  ship  with  a  cargo  from  the  Canary 
Islands,  carrying  several  thousand  canaries, 
which  the  traders  thought  might  be  sold  in 
Europe,  was  wrecked  off  the  coast  of  Italy 
early  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Before  the 
sailors  left  the  ship,  they  opened  the  cages 
containing  the  canaries.  The  birds  escaped 
to  the  Island  of  Elba  and  there  became  es- 
tablished in  the  wild  state.  From  this  colony 
of  canaries  birds  were  captured  and  distrib- 
uted to  all  parts  of  Europe  and  America, 
their  superior  song  powers  and  adaptability 
to  domestication  making 
them  popular  wherever  they  became  known. 
The  wild  bird  known  in  America  as  the 
wild  canary  is  the  American  Goldfinch.  It 
belongs  to  the  same  family  as  the  canary  but 
is  of  a  different  species.  It  is  of  no  value 
as  a  singer. 

Improvement  in  domestication.  Nearly  all 
the  varieties  of  the  canary  were  developed 
before  the  eighteenth  century.  The  German 
canary  fanciers  turned  their  attention  to  de- 
veloping the  song  of  the  bird,  the  Belgian  and 
British  fanciers  to  making  and  perfecting 
shape  and  color  varieties.  In  Germany  the  celebrated  Harz 
Mountain  Canaries  were  produced.  These  are  simply  common 


FIG.  221.    Norwich 
Canary  with  hood 


FIG.  2 22.  Yorkshire 
Canary 


1  The  illustrations  in  this  chapter  are  from  "  Our  Domestic  Animals,"  by  Charles 
W.  Burkett. 


CANARIES 


271 


FIG.  223.  Belgian 
Canary 


canaries  carefully  bred  and  trained  for  singing.  But  their  ex- 
cellence as  singers  is  not  due  to  breeding  and  training  alone  ; 
the  climate  of  the  Harz  Mountain  region  seems  to  be  peculiarly 
suited  to  the  development  of  canaries  with 
beautiful  voices.  The  finest  Harz  Mountain 
Canaries  are  produced  at  St.  Andreasberg,  a 
health  resort  noted  for  its  pure  and  bracing 
air.  The  St.  Andreasberg  Roller  is  a  canary 
trained  to  sing  with  a  peculiar  rolling  note. 
Among  fancy  types  of  canaries  the  most 
interesting  are  the  Norwich  Canary,  which 
is  larger  than  the  singing  canaries  and  has 
reddish-yellow  plumage ;  the  Manchester 
Coppy,  a  yellow  canary  almost  as  large  as  a 
small  pigeon  ;  the  Lizard  Canaries  (Silver 
and  Golden),  which  have  spangled  markings  on  the  back  ;  the 
London  F^ancy  Canary,  which  has  an  orange  body  with  black 
wings  and  tail ;  and  the  Belgian  Canary,  a  malformed  type  in 
which  the  head  appears  to  grow  out  of  the  breast  instead  of  being 
carried  above  the  shoulders. 

Place  in  domestication.   Most  people  who 
have  canaries  keep  them  for  pets,  and  have 
only  a  few.    In  perhaps  the  greater  number 
of  cases  a  single  bird  —  a  singer  —  satisfies 
the  canary  lover.   A  few  of  those  who  keep 
canaries  as  pets  also  breed  them  for  sale. 
Occasionally  a  canary  fancier  devotes  a  room 
in  his  house  entirely  to  his  birds  and,  when 
breeding  on  such  a  scale,  has  a  great  many 
to  sell.  The  commercial  side  of  canary  breed- 
ing, however,  is  usually  subordinate,  except  in  the  Harz  Mountain 
district,  where  the  breeding  and  training  of  singing  canaries  is  a 
very  important  cottage  industry.    Canaries  from  this  district  are 
sold  all  over  the  civilized  world. 


FIG.    224.     English 
Flatheaded   Canary 


272  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

MANAGEMENT  OF  CANARIES 

Cages.  The  common  wire  bird  cages  used  for  one  or  two 
canaries  are  so  well  known  that  no  description  of  them  is  neces- 
sary. For  larger  numbers  larger  cages  must  be  provided.  Large 
cages  cannot  always  be  obtained  at  stores  which  sell  the  small  ones, 
but  they  may  be  obtained  from  bird  stores  in  the  large  cities,  or 
made  to  order  by  a  local  mechanic.  Indeed,  any  clever  boy  who 
has  learned  to  use  tools  can  make  one  at  very  little  cost.  While 
the  small  cages  are  usually  made  all  of  metal,  the  large  ones  are 
commonly  made  with  wooden  frames.  A  small  cage  has  a  remov- 
able bottom.  A  large  cage  must  have  two  bottoms  —  the  outer 
one  fixed,  the  inner  one  in  the  form  of  a  movable  drawer.  A 
metal  drawer  is  easier  to  keep  clean  than  a  wooden  one. 

Position  of  the  cage.  The  cage  in  an  ordinary  room  should 
be  hung  where  its  occupants  will  be  comfortable  and  safe.  The 
greatest  foe  of  the  domestic  canary  is  the  house  cat.  Some  cats 
can  be  trained  to  let  canaries  alone,  but  very  few  can  be  trusted 
to  make  no  attempt  to  get  a  canary  when  left  alone  in  a  room 
with  it.  When  canaries  and  cats  are  kept  in  the  same  house, 
the  cage  should  hang  in  a  place  from  which  cats  can  be  excluded 
when  they  cannot  be  watched.  The  comfort  of  the  bird  will  often 
require  that  the  position  of  the  cage  be  changed  once  or  oftener 
during  the  day,  according  to  the  season  or  to  some  particular 
condition.  Thus,  a  sunny  window  may  be  very  pleasant  at  some 
times  and  too  warm  at  others,  or  a  bird  may  tire  of  being  con- 
stantly in  the  same  place.  The  bird  keeper  has  to  learn  to  know, 
by  observing  the  actions  of  birds,  when  they  are  comfortable 
and  contented,  and  must  use  judgment  in  placing  the  cage  to 
suit  them. 

Feeding.  Canaries  live  mostly  on  ripe  seeds,  but  they  are  also 
very  fond  of  the  leaves,  flowers,  and  green  seeds  of  many  com- 
mon plants.  Being  such  small  birds,  they  eat  only  small  seeds. 
The  seeds  most  used  as  food  for  canaries  are  hempseed,  flaxseed, 


CANARIES  273 

rapeseed,  and  canary  seed,  which  is  the  seed  of  the  canary  grass, 
a  plant  indigenous  to  the  Canary  Islands.  These  are  often  sold 
mixed  under  the  trade  name  of  "birdseed."  Many  canary  fanciers 
think  that  it  is  better  to  feed  the  seeds  separately,  or  to  make  the 
mixtures  themselves,  so  that  they  can  know  just  what  the  birds  eat, 
and  can  judge  whether  any  trouble  which  may  arise  is  due  to  a 
wrong  diet.  Rapeseed  and  canary  seed  are  considered  the  best  and 
safest  feed  for  canaries.  They  may  be  mixed  in  equal  parts  and 
kept  before  the  birds  at  all  times.  Canaries  like  hempseed  better 
than  anything  else,  but  it  is  so  rich  that,  if  fed  heavily,  it  is  inju- 
rious. When  a  mixture  of  seeds  containing  hempseed  is  placed 
in  the  feed  cup,  canaries  will  pick  out  and  scatter  and  waste  the 
other  seeds,  to  get  the  hempseed.  For  this  reason  it  is  often  left 
out  of  the  mixture  and  given  occasionally,  a  few  grains  at  a  time. 

Canaries  are  very  fond  of  lettuce,  chickweed,  and  plantain. 
They  also  like  the  green  seeds  of  many  grasses.  These  things 
may  be  given  to  them  by  fastening  the  leaves  or  stalks  between 
the  wires  of  the  cage  where  the  birds  can  reach  them  easily.  A 
piece  of  cuttlefish  bone  should  be  placed  where  the  birds  can 
eat  some  whenever  they  want  it.  Cuttle  bone  furnishes  them 
with  salt  and  lime. 

Care.  Canaries  should  have  regular  attention.  Aside  from 
having  the  position  of  the  cage  changed  when  necessary,  they 
usually  require  attention  only  once  a  day.  This  should  be  at  a 
regular  hour,  preferably  in  the  morning.  The  cage  should  be 
placed  on  a  table  or  stand,  and  the  bottom  removed,  that  it  may  be 
thoroughly  cleaned.  The  best  way  is  to  wash  it.  While  the 
bottom  of  the  cage  is  being  cleaned  the  cage  with  the  bird  in  it 
rests  upon  the  table.  This  is  the  best  time  to  give  the  bird  its 
bath.  A  shallow  pan  or  dish  containing  about  an  inch  of  water 
is  placed  on  the  table  under  the  bottomless  cage.  Some  birds 
splash  so  vigorously  that  the  bath  must  be  given  in  a  room  con- 
taining nothing  that  would  be  damaged  by  the  drops  of  water 
which  they  scatter.  Some  seem  to  understand  that  the  harder 


274  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

they  splash  the  more  trouble  they  make,  and  to  take  delight  in 
wetting  everything  about  them. 

When  the  bird  has  had  its  bath,  the  cage  should  be  wiped 
dry,  the  bottom  replaced,  the  drinking  cup  rinsed  and  refilled, 
and  the  seed  cup  rilled.  If  a  bird  is  very  tame  and  can  be  easily 
caught,  it  may  be  let  out  of  the  cage  for  its  bath  and  for  a  little 
exercise.  Many  canaries  will  return  voluntarily  to  their  cages 
after  bathing  and  flying  around  the  room  a  few  times.  Canary 
fanciers  frequently  allow  their  birds  the  freedom  of  the  room 
for  hours  at  a  time.  Whenever  this  is  done,  special  care  must 
be  taken  that  no  unexpected  opening  of  a  door  allows  the  bird 
to  escape  from  the  room.  Neglect  of  this  point  often  leads  to 
the  loss  of  a  valued  bird. 

Breeding.  The  breeding  season  for  canaries  is  from  February 
until  May  or  June.  The  cage  for  a  breeding  pair  should  be  a 
little  larger  than  that  used  for  a  single  bird,  and  should  be  firmly 
attached  to  the  wall  instead  of  hanging  where  it  can  swing. 
The  nest  is  usually  a  small  wire  basket.  For  nest  material  cotton 
batting  and  cow's  hair  or  deer's  hair  are  used.  Deer's  hair  may 
be  obtained  at  bird  stores.  These  materials  are  placed  in  the 
cage  and  the  birds  use  what  they  want.  The  hen  lays  from  four 
to  six  eggs.  The  period  of  incubation  is  two  weeks.  During  the 
breeding  season  the  birds  should  be  fed,  in  addition  to  the  usual 
supply  of  seed,  a  little  grated  hard-boiled  egg  with  cracker  or 
bread  crumbs.  They  also  need  a  supply  of  fine  oyster  shells.  By 
the  time  the  young  are  three  weeks  old  they  are  able  to  leave 
the  nest  and  to  feed  themselves.  They  should  then  be  removed 
to  a  separate  cage. 


CHAPTER  XX 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  MARKET  PRODUCTS 

Producers,  consumers,  and  middlemen.  The  preceding  chap- 
ters have  treated  of  the  characters  and  the  uses  of  domestic  birds, 
and  of  the  methods  of  producing  them.  In  this  chapter  we  shall 
consider  matters  relating  to  the  distribution  of  such  of  their  prod- 
ucts as  are  staple  articles  of  commerce.  There  are  very  few 
subjects  of  general  interest  that  are  as  widely  misunderstood  as 
some  phases  of  the  distribution  of  market  eggs  and  poultry. 
Every  one  uses  these  products ;  many  millions  of  people  pro- 
duce them  in  small  quantities  ;  but  the  consumers  who  are  not 
producers  live  mostly  in  cities  remote  from  the  farming  sections 
which  have  great  surpluses  of  eggs  and  poultry  to  send  to  the 
cities,  and  so  the  work  of  distributing  these  products  is  done 
principally  by  traders,  or  middlemen. 

The  modern  developments  of  poultry  culture  have  been  in  a 
very  large  measure  due  to  middlemen  and  could  not  continue 
without  them.  In  a  large  and  highly  organized  population  middle- 
men in  many  different  capacities  perform  the  services  which  in 
primitive  or  small  communities  may  be  performed  by  either  the 
producer  or  the  consumer.  Consumers  and  producers  are  apt  to 
think  that  the  middlemen  get  more  than  their  fair  share  of  the 
profits  on  the  articles  that  they  buy  and  sell.  The  true  situation 
and  the  exact  relations  of  producers,  middlemen,  and  consumers 
of  poultry  products  are  easily  understood  if  we  study  the  develop- 
ment of  the  existing  methods  of  distribution  from  the  beginning. 

How  the  middleman  enters  local  trade.  Suppose  that  a  farmer 
brings  to  town  30  dozen  eggs ;  that  the  storekeeper  will  allow 
him  20  cents  a  dozen  for  them  ;  and  that  by  peddling  them  from 

275 


276  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

house  to  house  he  can  sell  them  for  2  5  cents  a  dozen :  how  much 
will  he  make  by  selling  them  directly  to  the  consumers  ? 

As  an  arithmetical  example,  considering  only  the  factors  which 
appear  in  the  statement,  this  is  a  very  simple  problem.  It  is  easy 
to  compute  that  by  selling  the  eggs  from  house  to  house  the 
farmer  will  make  $1.50.  But  the  farmer's  practical  problem 
in  disposing  of  his  eggs  has  some  very  important  factors  which 
do  not  appear  in  a  simple  arithmetical  problem.  Unless  he  had 
regular  customers  for  his  eggs,  he  would  probably  have  to  call  at 
fifty  or  sixty  houses  to  sell  them.  He  might  have  to  call  at  a 
great  many  more,  and  then  might  not  succeed  in  selling  them 
all.  He  would  find  that  it  was  of  little  use  to  try  to  sell  eggs  to 
families  that  had  not  engaged  them  in  advance,  unless  he  called 
very  early  in  the  morning,  before  they  had  ordered  eggs  from 
some  one  else.  If  he  succeeded  in  selling  all  the  eggs,  he  would 
still  have  to  consider  whether  it  paid  him  better  to  spend  his 
time,  and  that  of  his  team,  in  selling  the  eggs  than  in  working  on 
the  farm.  Most  farmers  find  that  they  cannot  afford  to  peddle 
produce  themselves,  and  unless  some  other  member  of  the  family 
can  do  it  without  interfering  with  important  farm  work,  they  sell 
such  products  as  poultry,  butter,  and  eggs  to  the  storekeepers. 

Now  take  the  consumer's  side  of  the  case.  The  ordinary 
family  uses  only  2  or  3  dozen  eggs  a  week.  If  the  eggs  can  be 
bought  at  the  store  for  25  cents  a  dozen,  and  at  a  farm  for 
1 5  cents  a  dozen,  there  is  an  apparent  saving  of  20  or  30  cents 
by  purchasing  them  at  the  farm.  But  in  most  cases  it  would  cost 
the  buyer  more  than  20  or  30  cents  to  go  to  the  farm  and  get 
the  eggs,  and  so  he  goes  to  the  store  for  them. 

The  storekeeper  is  the  middleman,  really  serving  both  pro- 
ducer and  consumer.  Every  one  can  see  this  clearly  in  cases 
where  there  is  only  one  middleman. 

Additional  middlemen.  If  the  farmers  trading  at  a  country 
store  bring  to  it  more  eggs  than  the  people  in  the  town  will 
buy,  the  storekeeper  must  either  sell  them  elsewhere  or  refuse 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  MARKET  PRODUCTS 


277 


to  take  them.  If  possible,  he  will  find  a  market  for  the  surplus, 
usually  by  shipping  them  to  the  nearest  large  city.  But  he  does 
not  send  them  direct  to  consumers,  for  he  could  not  deal  with 
them  any  better  than  the  farmers  could  with  the  people  in  his 
town.  He  may  send  them  to  a  storekeeper  in  the  city,  but  he 
is  more  likely  to  send  them  to  some  one  who  makes  a  business 
of  receiving  eggs  from  country  collectors  and  selling  them  at 
wholesale  wherever  there  is  a  demand  for  them.  If  the  receipts 


FIG.  225.   Unloading  coops  of  poultry  at  a  receiving  warehouse.    (Photograph 
from  the  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

in  a  city  exceed  the  local  requirements,  the  surplus  will  be  sent 
to  one  of  the  great  cities  which  are  the  principal  receiving 
centers  for  produce  of  all  kinds.  The  large  receivers  in  the 
great  cities  distribute  the  eggs  to  retailers  in  the  cities  and  also 
to  jobbers  and  retailers  in  smaller  cities  where  local  supplies 
are  inadequate. 

Thus  between  the  producer  and  the  consumer  there  may  be  as 
many  as  six  or  seven  middlemen  who  in  turn  handle  the  eggs. 
At  first  thought  it  seems  that  so  many  middlemen  are  not 


2/8  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

necessary.  But  it  is  not  a  question  of  numbers  ;  it  is  a  question 
of  conditions.  The  number  depends  more  or  less  upon  whether 
the  middleman  at  any  stage  finds  it  more  advantageous  to  deal 
with  one  next  to  him  in  the  general  series  or  to  pass  one  or 
more  and  deal  with  another  farther  away.  In  the  United  States 
prices  of  eggs  are  finally  determined  by  the  demand  and  supply 
in  the  large  cities  of  the  East ;  the  prices  at  other  points  are 
usually  the  prices  in  these  cities,  minus  the  cost  of  transpor- 
tation and  handling.  In  periods  of  scarcity,  however,  there  is 
a  tendency  to  uniformity  of  prices  in  all  large  cities. 

The  movements  of  poultry  to  market  are  made  in  much  the 
same  way  as  the  movement  of  eggs.  As  a  rule  the  same  people 
handle  both. 

How  the  demand  for  poultry  products  stimulates  production. 
In  the  preceding  sections  it  was  assumed,  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  clearly  the  relation  of  the  middleman  to  both  the  pro- 
ducer and  the  consumer,  that  the  movement  of  these  articles 
from  the  country  producer  to  the  city  buyer  came  about  as  the 
result  of  the  existence  of  a  surplus  in  farming  districts.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  the  movement  is  produced  by  the  demand  in  localities 
which  do  not  produce  their  own  supplies.  One  effect  of  the 
increase  of  population  in  cities  is  to  cause  farmers  near  the 
cities  to  grow  more  poultry  and  sometimes  to  establish  special 
poultry  farms.  But  as  grain  and  labor  cost  more  near  the  cities, 
the  poultry  and  eggs  produced  near  them  must  be  sold  at  high 
prices.  If  the  city  people  were  dependent  upon  these  local 
supplies,  only  the  rich  could  afford  them. 

As  this  is  true  of  all  perishable  food  articles,  as  well  as  of 
poultry  products,  the  growth  of  cities  was  restricted  as  long  as 
there  was  no  means  of  bringing  provisions  quickly  from  places 
where  they  could  be  produced  at  low  cost.  When  steam  railroads 
were  built,  this  restriction  on  the  growth  of  cities  was  partly 
removed.  Many  cities  then  began  to  grow  very  fast,  and  the 
demands  of  their  population  for  cheap  food  led  city  dealers  in 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  MARKET  PRODUCTS 


279 


provisions  to  look  for  supplies  in  the  towns  and  farms  along  the 
railroads.  Many  such  dealers  had  before  collected  provisions  by 
wagon  as  far  from  the  city  as  was  practicable.  These  men  could 
now  greatly  extend  their  routes,  because,  having  collected  a  wagon- 
load,  they  could  take  it  to  the  most  convenient  railway  station,  ship 
it  by  rail  to  the  city,  and  go  on  collecting,  instead  of  spending  a 
day  or  more  in  delivering  their  load  in  the  city.  Very  soon  after 
railroads  were  first  built,  many  farmers  began  to  produce  more 


FIG.  226.  Fattening  chickens  in  crates  at  a  poultry  buyer's  warehouse.1  (Photo- 
graph from  the  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

poultry  and  eggs  and  to  ship  them  directly  to  the  best  city  market 
that  they  could  find.  As  the  demand  for  their  produce  was  usually 
much  greater  than  could  be  supplied  from  their  own  farms,  such 
farmers  often  began  to  buy  from  their  neighbors,  thus  becoming 
middlemen  as  well  as  producers.  In  many  cases  such  men  would 
after  a  time  find  it  to  their  advantage  to  move  their  headquarters 
to  the  city,  and  would  ultimately  build  up  a  very  large  business. 

1  If  the  farmer  sells  his  chickens  without  fattening,  the  buyer  can  fatten  them  in 
this  way  and  so  make  an  extra  profit. 


280  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

In  nearly  all  farming  sections,  even  those  most  remote  from 
city  markets,  there  is  a  short  period  in  the  spring  when  there 
is  a  large  surplus  of  eggs  and  sometimes  a  period  in  the  fall 
when  there  is  more  poultry  ready  for  market  than  can  be  sold ; 
but  the  people  in  those  places  rarely  make  any  effort  to  increase 
their  production,  and  to  extend  the  seasons  when  they  have 
more  than  enough  for  themselves,  until  they  have  good  facilities 
for  shipping  eggs  and  poultry  and  the  demands  from  outside 
cause  a  marked  increase  in  the  local  prices  of  these  products. 


FIG.  227.  Driving  turkeys  to  market.    (Photograph  from  Bureau  of  Chemistry, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

So  from  the  city  and  the  country,  almost  simultaneously,  but 
with  the  demand  from  the  city  most  active  and  pressing,  the 
modern  system  of  collecting  and  distributing  poultry  products 
has  grown.  At  first  poultry  products  were  nearly  all  handled 
by  men  who  dealt  in  all  kinds  of  country  produce.  As  the  busi- 
ness increased,  many  firms  gave  their  attention  exclusively  to 
poultry  products.  Then,  when  creameries  were  established  in 
many  places,  the  creamery  was  found  a  convenient  place  for 
the  collection  of  eggs.  The  large  packing  houses  which  handle 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  MARKET  PRODUCTS 


281 


other  kinds  of  meat  also  entered  this  field  and  became  a  very  im- 
portant factor  in  the  development  of  poultry  culture  in  the  West. 
In  the  collection  and  distribution  of  poultry  products  the 
various  agencies  mentioned  form  a  great  many  different  kinds 
of  combinations.  The  arrangements  vary  according  to  many  dif- 
ferent conditions.  From  first  to  last  every  one  who  handles  an 
article  is  trying  to  make  all  he  can  out  of  it,  but  most  of  the 


FIG.  228.    A  big  drive  of  turkeys  arriving  at  a  killing  house.     (Photograph 
from  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

middlemen  deal  fairly  both  in  buying  and  in  selling.  Indeed, 
people  cannot  continue  long  in  any  legitimate  business  unless 
they  are  honest.  As  we  shall  see,  middlemen  are  in  a  position 
where  they  are  often  blamed  without  just  cause,  and  often  have 
to  take  much  greater  risks  than  either  producers  or  consumers. 
Losses  in  distribution.  It  has  been  said  that  the  general 
tendency  is  to  reduce  as  far  as  possible  the  number  of  middle- 
men concerned  in  the  distribution  of  poultry  products.  This 
tendency  often  goes  too  far  and  overreaches  its  purpose  of 
economy.  The  efforts  of  producers  and  country  collectors  to 


282 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


deal  directly  with  consumers  and  retailers  in  the  large  cities  often 
give  them  less  profit  than  would  be  obtained  by  selling  through 
the  regular  channels  of  the  trade.  The  reason  for  this  is  that 
most  producers  and  a  majority  of  country  collectors  do  not  pre- 
pare and  pack  their  poultry  and  eggs  so  that  they  will  reach 
those  to  whom  they  are  consigned  in  good  condition  and  bring 
the  prices  which  the  shippers  expected  to  realize.  The  losses 


FIG.  229.   Candling  eggs.1   (Photograph  from  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

due  to  improper  handling  of  eggs  and  poultry  by  producers  and 
small  collectors  are  enormous,  undoubtedly  amounting  to  more 
than  $100,000,000  a  year  in  the  United  States. 

To  place  eggs  and  poultry  in  the  hands  of  consumers  in 
strictly  first-class  condition,  they  must  be  handled  with  great  care 
at  every  stage  of  preparation  and  distribution.  Eggs  must  be 
gathered  while  perfectly  fresh,  kept  in  a  cool  place  where  no  bad 
odors  will  reach  them,  and  protected  from  heat  and  frost,  as  well 

!The  man  is  posing  for  the  photograph.  When  he  works,  the  room  must  be  dark 
except  for  the  covered  light  used  in  candling. 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  MARKET  PRODUCTS         283 

as  from  breakage,  when  being  moved  from  place  to  place.  If 
the  producer  is  careless  about  any  of  these  points,  many  of  his 
eggs  will  be  tainted  or  stale  or  beginning  to  rot  when  they  are 
only  a  few  days  old,  and  though  he  may  call  them  fresh  eggs 
and  try  to  sell  them  as  such,  he  will  not  get  the  highest  price 
for  them.  The  small  collectors  are  also  likely  to  be  careless  in 
handling  eggs,  and  to  ship  them  to  receivers  in  bad  condition. 

The  receivers  in  the  cities,  whose  whole  business  is  in  perish- 
able products,  cannot  afford  to  handle  goods  in  this  slipshod  way. 
They  candle  the  eggs  that  are  forwarded  to  them  to  determine 
the  quality;  and  pay  for  eggs  not  only  according  to  their  external 
appearance,  but  also  the  appearance  and  condition  of  the  pack- 
age in  which  they  are  received.  Candling  eggs  consists  in  passing 
them  before  a  bright  light,  as  in  testing  to  determine  the  fertility 
of  eggs  that  are  being  incubated.  When  the  egg  is  held  before  a 
light,  the  expert  candler  can  tell  in  an  instant  whether  it  is  fresh 
and  good  and,  if  not,  just  what  is  wrong  with  it.  Except  when 
kept  at  almost  freezing  temperature,  eggs  that  have  begun  to 
decompose  continue  to  deteriorate  quite  rapidly.  Sometimes  a 
lot  of  eggs  is  candled  several  times  and  the  bad  ones  removed, 
before  it  reaches  the  last  dealer  who  handles  it. 

Market  poultry  and  pigeons  are  sold  both  alive  and  dead. 
Most  dead  poultry  is  dressed  (that  is,  has  the  feathers  re- 
moved), but  pigeons  and  guineas  are  often  marketed  dead  with- 
out plucking,  and  occasionally  turkeys  are  treated  in  the  same 
way.  Live  birds  lose  weight  in  transportation,  especially  when 
they  are  shipped  in  crowded  and  badly  ventilated  coops.  Fre- 
quently many  birds  in  a  shipment  die  before  their  journey  is 
over.  Because  of  such  losses,  and  because  the  price  per  pound 
of  the  best  dressed  poultry  is  usually  much  higher  than  the 
price  per  pound  of  the  best  live  poultry,  the  impression  that 
it  is  more  profitable  for  a  producer  to  dress  his  poultry  is  wide- 
spread. The  result  is  that  a  great  many  people  who  have  poultry 
to  sell  dress  it  just  as  they  would  to  use  at  home  and,  putting 


284 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


it  into  a  box  or  a  barrel,  ship  it  to  a  market  where  the  prices  are 
high,  expecting  to  get  the  highest  price  for  it.  A  large  part  of 
such  poultry  arrives  on  the  market  in  such  a  condition  that  it  is 
hard  to  sell  at  any  price,  and  much  of  it  has  to  be  thrown  away. 
Birds  that  are  to  be  marketed  should  be  kept  without  food  or 
water  for  from  twenty-four  to  thirty-six  hours  before  killing. 
The  object  of  this  is  to  have  the  crop,  gizzard,  and  intestines 

entirely  empty.  The  killing  is 
done  by  making  a  small,  deep 
cut,  that  will  at  the  same  time 
penetrate  the  brain  (making  the 
bird  unconscious)  and  sever  one 
or  two  veins,  thus  letting  the 
blood  flow  freely.  This  cut  is 
usually  made  in  the  roof  of  the 
mouth,  but  sometimes  in  the 
neck.  The  former  method  is 
preferred  because  it  leaves  no 
wound  exposed  to  the  air.  The 
common  practice  in  picking  poul- 


try  for  home  use  is  to  scald  the 


FIG.  230.   Barrel  of  dressed  poultry 

opened  on  arrival  at  its  destination.1 

(Photograph  from  Bureau  of  Chem-     bi'rd  jn  water  •    gt  bdow  the 

istry,  United  States  Department  of 

Agriculture)  inS  temperature.    When  this  is 

done  just  right,  the  results  are 

very  good  ;  the  feathers  come  off  easily  and  the  skin  is  not 
damaged.  But  if  the  bird  is  not  held  in  the  scalding  water  long 
enough,  the  feathers  are  hard  to  remove  and  the  skin  may  be  torn 
in  several  places  in  the  process.  If  the  bird  is  held  in  the  water 
too  long,  the  skin  will  be  partly  cooked.  If  it  is  scalded  before 
it  has  been  properly  bled,  the  hot  water  will  turn  the  skin  red. 
The  defects  in  scalded  poultry  do  not  show  badly  at  first,  and  if 
it  is  packed  and  shipped  at  once,  the  shipper  may  think  that  it 


1  Note  the  large  piece  of  ice  remaining.    If  the  ice  should  give  out  on  the  way,  the 
poultry  would  spoil. 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  MARKET  PRODUCTS          285 


was  in  very  good  condition  ;  but  if  he  could  see  it  when  the  re- 
ceiver unpacks  it,  he  would  be  surprised  to  find  how  many 
blemishes  there  were  on  it  and  how  poor  it  looked.  Removing 
the  feathers  without  scalding  is  called  dry  picking.  It  is  an 
art  which  requires  considerable 
practice.  The  novice  who  tries 
it  usually  tears  the  skin  of  the 
birds  badly. 

In  order  to  reach  the  market 
in  good  condition,  poultry  must 
not  only  be  properly  killed  and 
picked,  but  each  carcass  must 
be  cooled  as  quickly  as  possible, 
to  remove  the  animal  heat  that 
remains  in  it.  This  is  done 
either  by  hanging  the  carcasses 
in  a  very  cool  place  or  by  put- 
ting them  in  cold  water.  Meat 
of  all  kinds  that  is  cooled  im- 
mediately after  killing  will  keep 
much  longer  than  if  cooling  is 
neglected. 

There  are  so  many  details 
which  must  have  attention  in 
dressing  poultry  for  shipment, 

that    it    usually    pays    both    pro-     FIG.  231.  A  badly  dressed  and  a  well- 

ducers    and    small    Collectors    to     dressed     fowl.      (Photograph     from 

n  v  ^  -,         Bureau  of  Chemistry,  United  States 

sell  poultry  alive  to  those  who  ,  \    .    . 

Department  of  Agriculture) 

have  better  facilities  for  hand- 
ling .  it  and  whose  operations  are  on  such  a  scale  that  they 
can  employ  experts  for  all  parts  of  the  work  of  preparation. 
Cold  storage  of  poultry  products.  So  abundant  are  the  sup- 
plies of  eggs  in  the  spring,  and  of  some  kinds  of  dressed  poultry 
in  the  summer,  fall,  and  early  winter,  that  large  quantities  could 


286  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

not  be  sold  at  any  price  at  seasons  of  plenty  if  there  were  no 
way  of  keeping  them  until  a  season  of  scarcity.  For  about  half 
a  century  after  the  production  of  eggs  and  poultry  began  to 
receive  special  attention  in  this  country,  the  profits  of  the  ordi- 
nary producer  were  severely  cut  every  spring  and  fall,  because 
the  market  was  overstocked.  Consumers  derived  little  benefit 
from  this  situation,  because  they  could  not  use  the  surplus  be- 
fore it  spoiled.  The  popular  idea  of  the  way  to  remedy  the 
conditions  was  to  have  hens  lay  when  eggs  were  scarce,  and  to 
have  poultry  ready  for  sale  when  supplies  were  insufficient. 
Experience,  however,  has  shown  that  it  is  practically  impossible 
to  have  a  very  large  proportion  of  things  of  this  kind  produced 
out  of  their  natural  season.  The  relatively  small  numbers  of 
people  who  succeed  in  doing  so  make  very  good  profits,  but  the 
masses  of  producers  and  consumers  are  not  benefited. 

The  solution  of  the  problem  of  carrying  the  surplus  of  a 
season  of  abundance  to  a  season  of  scarcity  was  discovered  when 
methods  of  making  ice  artificially  were  perfected  and  it  was 
found  that  the  equipment  used  in  manufacturing  ice  could  be 
used  to  cool,  to  any  desired  degree,  rooms  for  the  storage  of 
perishable  produce.  This  form  of  refrigeration  was  at  first  used 
in  place  of  the  ordinary  method  (with  natural  ice),  to  keep  goods 
for  short  periods.  Much  larger  quantities  could  be  taken  care 
of  in  this  way  when  for  any  reason  a  market  was  temporarily 
overstocked. 

For  hundreds  of  years  it  had  been  quite  a  common  practice 
to  preserve  eggs  in  various  ways.  By  packing  them  in  salt,  or 
in  salt  brine,  or  in  limewater,  eggs  may  be  kept  in  very  good 
condition  for  several  months,  and  sometimes  for  nearly  a  year. 
As  limed  and  pickled  eggs  were  regularly  sold  in  the  mar- 
kets, every  dealer  in  eggs  at  once  saw  the  possibilities  of  cold 
storage  as  a  factor  in  the  market  egg  trade.  Wherever  there 
was  a  storage  house,  dealers  began  to  buy  eggs  when  prices  were 
low,  and  store  them  to  sell  when  prices  were  high.  At  first  a 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  MARKET  PRODUCTS 


287 


great  many  of  those  who  stored  eggs  lost  money  on  them,  either 
by  the  eggs  spoiling  in  storage  or  because  they  kept  the  eggs 
too  long,  but  after  a  few  years'  experience  the  operators  of  cold- 
storage  plants  learned  the  best  temperatures  for  keeping  the 
different  kinds  of  produce  and  the  best  methods  of  arranging 
different  articles  in  the  chambers  of  the  storage  warehouses. 
They  found  that  eggs  kept  best  at  34  degrees  Fahrenheit,  that 
poultry  must  be  frozen  hard,  and  that  the  temperature  in  a 


FIG.  232.   Dressed  fowls  cooling  on  racks  in  dry-cooling  room.    (Photograph 
from  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

storage  chamber  must  not  be  allowed  to  vary.  Those  who  were 
putting  eggs  and  poultry  in  cold  storage  found  that  it  did  not 
pay  to  store  produce  that  was  not  perfectly  sound  and  good, 
and  that  products  which  had  been  in  cold  storage  must  be  used 
promptly  after  being  taken  out,  and  also  that  they  must  plan 
their  sales  to  have  all  stored  goods  sold  before  the  new  crop 
began  to  come  in,  or  they  would  lose  money. 

The  development  of  cold-storage  methods  and  their  extensive 
use  have  been  of  great  benefit  to  producers  and  consumers,  as 


288  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

well  as  to  distributors  of  perishable  food  products.  The  storing 
of  such  products  is  a  legitimate  form  of  speculative  business.  It 
prevents  waste  and  loss.  The  demand  for  eggs  and  poultry  to 
go  into  cold  storage  raises  the  price  at  seasons  of  plenty  and 
makes  a  good  market  for  all  eggs  and  poultry  that  are  fit  to 
store.  The  eggs  and  poultry  that  have  been  stored  furnish 
consumers  with  supplies  at  reasonable  prices  for  much  longer 
seasons.  As  a  rule  supplies  in  storage  are  not  kept  there  for 
very  long  periods.  Speculators  who  want  to  be  on  the  safe  side 
plan  very  carefully  so  that  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  stuff  that  they 
have  stored  shall  be  sold  before  new  supplies  become  abundant 
in  the  market.  To  do  this  they  have  to  watch  very  closely  every 
condition  affecting  the  markets,  and  to  use  good  judgment  in 
selling.  Most  of  them  do  not,  as  is  popularly  supposed,  hold  their 
entire  stock  for  the  period  when  prices  are  highest.  If  they  did, 
all  would  lose.  Eggs  begin  to  come  out  of  storage  about  midsum- 
mer, and  are  withdrawn  gradually  for  about  six  months.  By  far 
the  greater  part  of  the  poultry  stored  goes  into  the  warehouses 
in  the  fall  and  begins  to  come  out  soon  after  the  winter  holidays. 

Within  the  limits  of  the  time  that  goods  may  be  carried  in 
cold  storage  profitably,  long  storage  has  no  more  bad  effects  on 
eggs  and  'poultry  than  refrigeration  for  short  periods.  Cold- 
storage  products  are  usually  of  better  than  average  quality  if 
used  immediately  upon  being  withdrawn  from  storage. 

Methods  of  selling  at  retail.  For  convenience  in  handling 
and  counting  them  in  quantities,  eggs  are  packed  in  cases  con- 
taining thirty  dozen  each,  and  wholesale  transactions  in  eggs  are 
by  the  case,  but  with  the  price  usually  quoted  by  the  dozen. 
Consumers  who  use  large  quantities  of  eggs  buy  them  by  the 
case.  The  ordinary  consumer  buys  them  by  the  dozen.  There 
is  a  widespread  impression  that,  inasmuch  as  eggs  vary  greatly 
in  size,  the  practice  of  selling  them  by  count  is  not  fair  to  the 
consumer.  This  feeling  sometimes  goes  so  far  that  laws  are 
proposed,  and  even  passed,  requiring  that  eggs  shall  be  sold  by 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  MARKET  PRODUCTS         289 

weight.  Such  a  law  does  not  remain  long  in  force,  because  weigh- 
ing small  quantities  of  eggs  is  troublesome  and  the  greater  number 
of  consumers  prefer  to  buy  them  by  the  dozen.  In  fact,  while  eggs 
are  nominally  sold  by  count  both  at  wholesale  and  at  retail,  they  are 
usually  assorted  according  to  size,  and  the  prices  graduated  to  suit. 
Considering  size,  condition,  quality,  and  color  of  shell,  as  many  as 
ten  grades  of  eggs  are  sometimes  made.  Although  the  color  of  the 
shell  of  an  egg  has  no  relation  whatever  to  its  palatability  or  its 
nutritive  value,  eggs  of  a  certain  color  sometimes  command  a  pre- 
mium. Thus,  in  New  York  City  white  eggs  of  the  best  grades  will 
bring  from  five  to  ten  cents  a  dozen  more  than  brown  eggs  of 
equal  quality,  while  in  Boston  the  situation  is  exactly  reversed. 

When  most  of  the  poultry  of  each  kind  in  any  market  is  of 
about  the  same  size  and  quality,  it  is  customary  to  sell  live  poultry 
at  wholesale  at  a  uniform  price  by  the  dozen,  and  to  sell  at  retail 
by  the  piece  or  by  the  pair.  But  as  soon  as  any  considerable 
part  of  the  poultry  of  any  kind  in  a  market  is  larger  than  the 
general  run  of  supplies,  a  difference  is  made,  in  the  prices  per 
dozen  or  per  piece  or  per  pair,  between  small  birds  and  large 
ones.  If  the  size  of  the  largest  specimens  further  increases,  the 
range  of  weights  becomes  too  great  to  be  classified  in  this  way, 
and  selling  by  weight  soon  becomes  the  common  practice.  Con- 
ditions are  the  same  for  dead  poultry,  except  that  the  change  to 
selling  by  weight  comes  more  quickly. 

In  preparing  poultry  for  market  by  the  method  that  has  been 
described  the  head  and  feet  were  left  on  and  the  internal  organs 
were  not  removed.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  poultry  keeps 
much  better  in  this  state.  Removing  these  parts  exposes  the 
flesh  at  several  places  to  the  action  of  the  air  and  of  bacteria, 
which  cause  putrefaction.  In  many  markets  in  poultry-producing 
sections  it  is  customary  to  sell  poultry  drawn  and  with  the  head 
and  feet  off.  In  places  where  most  of  the  poultry  comes  from  a 
distance  the  waste  parts  of  the  carcass  are  not  removed  until  it 
is  bought  by  the  consumer.  Some  people  who  buy  in  this  way 


2QO  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

think  that  they  are  being  defrauded  if  the  marketman  weighs 
the  bird  before  removing  the  offal.  Sometimes,  to  satisfy  such 
a  customer,  a  dealer  removes  the  offal  before  weighing,  and  the 
customer  cheerfully  pays  a  higher  rate  per  pound,  feeling  that 
at  any  rate  he  is  getting  just  what  he  pays  for  when  he  insists 
on  having  it  done  in  this  way.  As  far  as  the  cost  is  concerned, 
it  makes  no  difference  to  the  consumer  at  what  stage  of  distri- 
bution the  offal  is  discarded. 

Volume  of  products.  In  the  United  States  and  Canada  the 
production  and  consumption  of  poultry  products  are  very  nearly 
equal,  because  each  country  has  agricultural  areas  capable  of 
supplying  an  enormous  population  with  poultry  and  eggs.  Pro- 
duction in  such  districts  responds  quickly  to  the  increasing 
demands  of  other  sections,  but  not  in  such  volume  as  to  create 
large  surpluses  for  export.  The  present  annual  production  of 
the  United  States  is  variously  estimated  at  from  $600,000,000 
to  $1,000,000,000.  This  wide  difference  exists  because  the 
census  is  only  a  partial  one.  In  Canada  no  general  census  of 
poultry  products  has  ever  been  taken. 

The  poultry  statistics  for  the  United  States  as  collected  de- 
cennially by  the  Bureau  of  the  Census  may  be  found  complete 
in  the  full  report  of  agricultural  statistics.  Those  for  the  differ- 
ent states  may  be  obtained  in  separate  bulletins.  Some  of  the 
states  and  provinces  collect  poultry  statistics  through  state  and 
provincial  departments  and  furnish  the  reports  to  all  persons 
desiring  them.  Persons  living  in  communities  which  ship  poultry 
products  can  usually  learn  from  the  local  shippers  the  approxi- 
mate amounts  and  the  value  of  the  produce  that  they  handle. 
At  the  more  important  receiving  points  statistics  of  receipts  are 
kept  by  such  organizations  as  the  Produce  Exchange,  Board  of 
Trade,  or  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  the  results  published  in 
their  annual  reports.  From  such  sources  it  is  possible  for  pupils 
to  get  information  as  to  the  status  and  importance  of  the  poultry 
trade  in  the  communities  in  which  they  live. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

EXHIBITIONS  AND  THE  FANCY  TRADE 

Conditions  in  the  fancy  trade.  The  trade  in  fancy  poultry 
and  pigeons  and  in  cage  birds  is  on  a  very  different  basis  from 
the  trade  in  market  products.  With  the  arrangements  for  col- 
lecting poultry  products  and  for  holding  them  when  that  is  de- 
sirable, it  seldom  happens  that  market  products  cannot  be  sold 
at  any  time  when  the  producer  wants  to  dispose  of  them.  The 
fancy  trade  is  quite  closely  limited  to  certain  short  seasons.  In 
this  trade  prices  depend  as  much  upon  the  reputation  of  the  seller 
as  upon  the  quality  of  his  stock.  Very  high  prices  are  obtained 
only  by  those  who  have  made  a  big  reputation  by  winning  at 
important  shows,  and  have  advertised  their  winnings  exten- 
sively. Buyers  of  fancy  stock  prefer  to  deal  directly  with 
producers,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  business  is  mail-order 
business.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  force  the  sale  of  this  class 
of  stock  except  by  selling  it  for  the  table  at  market  prices.  The 
producer  can  only  advertise  and  wait  for  customers,  and  what  is 
not  sold  at  fancy  prices  must  be  sold  at  market  prices. 

Exhibitions.  Competitive  exhibitions  hold  a  very  important 
place  in  the  development  and  distribution  of  improved  stocks  of 
animals.  In  old  times  such  exhibitions  were  informal  gatherings 
of  the  persons  in  a  locality  who  were  interested  in  the  improve- 
ment of  a  particular  breed  or  variety.  Our  knowledge  of  these 
early  gatherings  of  breeders  of  domestic  birds  is  very  limited 
and  is  mostly  traditional.  From  what  is  known  it  appears  that 
they  were  usually  held  in  the  evenings  at  public  houses,  and 
that  each  person  taking  part  carried  with  him  to  the  place 
of  meeting  one  or  more  of  his  best  birds  ;  that  these  were 

291 


292 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


compared  and  their  qualities  discussed  by  the  company,  and  that 
at  the  close  each  participant  carried  his  exhibit  home. 

As  the  interest  in  breeding  for  fancy  points  extended,  such 
gatherings  became  larger  and  assumed  a  more  formal  character, 
and  rules  were  adopted  for  comparing,  or  judging,  the  birds ; 
but  it  was  not  until  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century 


FIG.  233.    View  of  a  section  of  a  large  poultry  show  in  Mechanics  Building, 
Boston,  Massachusetts 

that  the  modern  system  of  public  exhibitions  of  poultry,  pigeons, 
cage  birds,  and  pet  stock  was  inaugurated.  The  first  exhibitions 
of  this  kind  were  held  at  the  agricultural  fairs.  Very  soon  after 
these  began  to  attract  attention,  special  exhibitions,  limited  to 
this  class  of  stock  and  held  in  suitable  buildings  in  the  winter, 
became  frequent.  Now  large  shows  are  held  annually  in  nearly 
every  large  city  and  in  hundreds  of  smaller  cities,  and  every 
agricultural  fair  has  its  poultry  department.  For  the  sake  of 


EXHIBITIONS  AND  THE  FANCY  TRADE         293 

brevity,  shows  at  which  poultry  is  the  principal  feature  are  called 
simply  poultry  shows,  although  they  often  include  other  kinds  of 
domestic  birds  and  all  kinds  of  small  domestic  animals. 

A  large  poultry  show,  with  a  great  variety  of  exhibits  of  birds 
and  of  the  appliances  used  in  aviculture,  affords  an  excellent 
opportunity  to  see  good  specimens  of  many  kinds.  Those  who 
have  such  an  opportunity  ought  to  make  the  most  of  it.  But 
the  novice  who  can  attend  only  small  shows  will  find  that,  while 
he  does  not  see  as  many  different  kinds  of  birds  there  and  may 
not  see  many  really  fine  specimens,  the  small  show  affords  the  be- 
ginner a  much  better  opportunity  to  learn  something  about  the  dif- 
ferences that  affect  quality  and  value  in  fancy  poultry  arid  pigeons. 

At  the  large  show  there  is  so  much  to  see,  and  the  differ- 
ences between  the  winning  specimens  in  any  class  are  usually 
so  slight,  that  only  those  who  are  familiar  with  many  varieties 
can  make  a  critical  examination  of  the  exhibits.  At  the  smaller 
shows  the  varieties  are  not  as  numerous,  the  competing  classes 
are  smaller,  and  the  differences  between  the  specimens  which 
win  prizes  are  often  plainly  apparent,  even  to  a  novice,  if  he 
has  a  clue  to  the  method  of  making  the  awards.  Those  who 
visit  large  shows  can  use  their  time  to  best  advantage  if  they 
make  as  careful  a  study  as  they  can  of  the  few  things  in  which 
they  take  the  most  interest,  and  take  just  a  casual  look  at  every- 
thing else.  In  the  four  or  five  days  that  it  is  open  to  the  public 
it  is  not  possible  for  any  one  to  make  a  thorough,  discriminat- 
ing inspection  of  all  that  there  is  to  be  seen  at  a  large  poultry 
show,  and  an  experienced  visitor  to  such  shows  never  tries  to  do 
so.  At  many  of  the  small  shows  even  a  novice,  by  studying  the 
exhibits  systematically,  may  get  a  very  good  idea  of  all  the  classes 
and  may  add  something  to  his  accurate  knowledge  of  a  number 
of  different  kinds  of  birds. 

Rudiments  of  judging.  While  even  an  ordinary  poultry  show 
contains  a  great  deal  that  is  of  interest  to  those  who  know  how  to 
get  at  it,  the  visitor  who  does  not  know  how  to  study  the  exhibits 


294  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

and  simply  takes  a  cursory  look  at  all  of  them,  tires  of  the  regular 
classes  at  a  show  in  a  very  short  time.  After  the  awards  have 
been  made,  the  ribbons  or  cards  on  the  coops  will  show  the  win- 
ning birds  and  their  relative  positions,  but  unless  one  knows 
something  of  the  methods  and  rules  of  judging  and  compares  the 
birds  with  some  care,  he  is  likely  to  get  the  impression  that  mak- 
ing comparisons  between  show  birds  requires  a  keener  critical 
faculty  than  he  possesses,  and  to  conclude  that  it  is  quite  use- 
less for  him  to  attempt  to  discover  why  the  birds  have  been 
ranked  in  the  order  in  which  the  judge  has  placed  them. 

Judging  live  stock  is  not  a  matter  of  simple  comparisons  of 
weights  and  dimensions.  The  personal  opinions  of  the  judge 
necessarily  affect  his  decisions,  and  as  the  opinions  of  men 
differ,  their  judgments  will  vary.  A  judge  is  often  in  doubt  as 
to  which  of  two  or  more  birds  is  (all  things  considered)  the 
better  specimen,  but  he  must  make  his  decision  on  the  birds  as 
they  appear  to  him  at  the  time,  and  that  decision  must  stand 
for  that  competition.  No  one,  no  matter  how  well  he  may  know 
the  requirements  of  the  standard  for  a  variety  and  the  methods 
of  applying  it,  can  discover  by  a  study  of  a  class  of  birds  all  of 
the  judge's  reasons  for  his  decisions;  but  any  one  who  will  keep 
in  mind  and  try  to  apply  a  few  simple,  general  rules  can  look 
over  a  variety  that  he  has  never  seen  before,  and  of  which  he 
may  not  know  the  name,  and  (unless  the  judge  has  been  very 
erratic  in  his  decisions)  can  see  why  most  of  the  awards  in 
a  small  class  of  varied  quality  have  been  made. 

These  rules  are : 

1.  The  character  or  characters  that  most  conspicuously  dis- 
tinguish a  type  are  given  most  consideration  in  judging. 

2.  Color  of  plumage  is  given  more  consideration  than  shape, 
unless  some  shape  character  is  unusually  striking. 

3.  Quality   in   color  of   plumage   consists   in   evenness   and 
purity  of  shade  in  solid-colored  specimens,  and  in  sound  colors 
and  distinctness  of  the  pattern  in  party-colored  specimens. 


EXHIBITIONS  AND  THE  FANCY  TRADE         295 

4.  The  shape  of  extraordinary  superficial  shape  characters, 
such  as  crests,  very  large  combs,  heavy  foot-feathering,  etc.,  is 
usually  given  as  much  consideration  as  color. 

The  first  rule  really  includes  all  the  others,  and  although  this 
is  not  usually  admitted  by  the  exponents  of  current  methods 
of  judging  live  stock,  in  practice  it  is  the  fundamental  rule  in 
judging.  One  reason  why  people  who  have  a  little  knowledge 
of  standards  for  well-bred  poultry,  and  of  the  methods  of  apply- 
ing them,  are  almost  always  puzzled  by  the  awards  at  poultry 
shows  is  because  they  try  to  analyze  them  in  accordance  with  the 
commonly  accepted  theory  of  judging  by  points,  which  assigns 
definite  numerical  values  to  certain  characters.  This  theory 
assumes  that  the  judge,  taking  these  values  as  a  basis,  com- 
putes the  values  of  faults  with  mathematical  accuracy.  This 
is  not  possible  where  the  computation  is  based  upon  an  opinion. 

To  illustrate  the  application  of  the  rules  given,  let  us  apply 
them  to  some  well-known  varieties,  taking  first  the  Barred 
Plymouth  Rock. 

The  conspicuous  distinguishing  character  of  this  variety  is  the 
barred  color  pattern  ;  therefore  color  of  plumage  has  most  con- 
sideration in  judging  it.  The  pattern  is  the  same  all  over  the  bird ; 
therefore  every  feather  should  be  barred.  The  pattern  must  be 
sharply  defined  ;  therefore  the  colors  must  be  clean-cut  and  the 
bars  straight  and  of  nearly  equal  width  on  each  feather,  with  the 
width  of  bars  on  feathers  of  different  sizes  proportionate  to 
the  width  of  the  feather.  These  requirements  seem  very  sim- 
ple when  stated,  but  a  close  examination  of  ordinary  exhibition 
Barred  Plymouth  Rocks  will  show  very  few  specimens  that 
closely  approach  perfection  according  to  the  rules. 

Now  take  the  White  Wyandotte.  The  most  conspicuous 
character  of  any  white  bird  is  its  whiteness.  In  judging  this 
variety,  therefore,  whiteness  will  have  more  consideration  than 
any  other  quality.  White  Wyandottes  are  distinguished  from 
White  Plymouth  Rocks  by  the  shape  of  the  comb ;  therefore 


296  OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 

the  shape  of  the  comb  will  be  given  more  attention  by  the 
judge  than  if  there  were  other  distinguishing  features. 

Silver- Laced  Wyandottes  are  conspicuous  for  their  color  pat- 
tern ;  therefore  the  most  important  thing  is  that  this  shall  be 
well  defined  and  uniform,  the  white  centers  clean  and  white  and 
the  black  edges  intensely  black.  Uniformity  in  such  markings 
is  very  difficult  to  produce.  A  bird  may  be  well  marked  in  one 
section  and  very  poorly  marked  in  another. 

In  Partridge  Cochins  the  most  conspicuous  character  is  ex- 
treme feather  development ;  the  next  is  color  of  plumage,  which 
differs  in  male  and  female.  Feather  development  and  the  shape 
which  it  produces  will  therefore  have  about  equal  consideration 
with  color.  In  color  the  male  is  black  on  the  breast  and  body, 
with  a  red  neck  and  back,  the  feathers  of  the  hackle  and  the 
saddle  having  black  stripes  in  the  center  ;  therefore,  in  the  male, 
quality  in  color  consists  in  blackness  in  the  black  sections,  a 
uniform  red  in  the  red  sections,  and  clear  and  sharp  striping 
wherever  it  appears.  The  Partridge  Cochin  female  has  plumage 
of  brown  penciled  with  a  darker  brown  ;  therefore  to  the  eye  of 
a  poultry  fancier  the  beauty  of  her  color  consists  in  well-defined 
penciling  and  a  harmonious  contrast  in  the  two  shades  of  color. 

A  White-Crested  Black  Polish  fowl  is  most  conspicuous  for 
its  large  white  crest ;  therefore  the  crest  is  the  most  important 
feature  to  be  considered  in  judging  this  variety.  But  color  is  also 
very  important,  for  if  the  white  feathers  of  the  crest  are  partly 
mixed  with  black,  or  the  black  of  the  body  is  dull,  the  effect 
is  not  pleasing. 

The  Fantail  Pigeon  is  most  conspicuous  for  its  fan-shaped 
tail;  therefore  this  is  the  most  important  thing  in  judging.  The 
tail  must  not  only  be  large  and  well  shaped,  but  must  be  carried 
in  an  attractive  manner.  It  must  not  be  too  large,  because  then 
the  bird  cannot  carry  it  in  a  good  position.  In  addition  to  carry- 
ing the  tail  in  a  good  position,  the  bird  must  pose  so  that  the 
whole  attitude  adds  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  principal  feature. 


EXHIBITIONS  AND  THE  FANCY  TRADE         297 


Similarly  with  the 
Pouter  Pigeon,  the 
globular  crop,  which 
is  its  distinctive  char- 
acter, must  be  large 
and  well  formed,  and 
in  addition  the  general 
carriage  must  be  such 
as  to  show  the  pout- 
ing trait  to  the  best 
advantage. 

The  same  rules  of 
color  which  apply  to 
fowls  apply  also  to 
pigeons.  The  color 
patterns  of  pigeons 
are  much  more  nu- 
merous, but  as  a  rule 
the  principal  required 
features  are  at  once 
obvious  to  any  one 
who  keeps  in  mind 
the  general  rules  that 
have  been  given. 

After  the  more  con- 
spicuous characters, 
many  minor  characters 
are  given  particular 
consideration.  In  theo- 
retical statements  of 
methods  of  judging, 
these  minor  characters 
are  often  treated  as  of 
equal  importance  with 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


FIG.  235.    Saddle  Fantail 
Pigeon l 


the  conspicuous   characters,  but  in  ordinary  judging  practice 

they  are  not  often  so  treated,  except  in  the  case  of  disqualify- 
ing faults,  to  be  noted  presently.  The  less  conspicuous  char- 
acters, including  shape  of  body  (in 
regard  to  which  the  average  fancier 
and  judge  is  somewhat  careless,  not 
discriminating  between  closely  related 
types),  become  important  in  making 
decisions  between  specimens  which 
appear  to  be  equal  in  the  more  con- 
spicuous characters.  Because  of  this 
there  is  a  tendency  to  exaggerate  some 
one  minor  character  whenever  a  high 
degree  of  uniformity  in  characters  that 

are  of  primary  importance  in  judging  is  reached. 

Disqualifications.    The  practice  of  judging  the  relative  merits 

of  exhibition  birds  principally  by  a  few  striking  characters  tends 

to  make  breeders  and  exhibitors  neglect  many  little  things  which 

affect  the  appearance  of  a  bird.   This  is  especially  the  case  with 

exhibitors     competing    under 

judges  who  are  partial  to  some 

conspicuous     character.       To 

prevent  this,  and  to  place  the 

heaviest  possible  penalty  upon 

serious  faults   that  are  easily 

overlooked,  certain  faults  are 

made  disqualifications  ;  that  is, 

a  bird  having  any  one  of  these 

faults    is   absolutely   debarred 

from  competition,  no  matter  how  good  it  may  be  in  other  respects. 
There  is  general  agreement  as  to  the  wisdom  and  justice  of 

disqualifying  for  deformities  or  for  mutilations  of  the  feathers 


FIG.  236.  White  Fantail  Pigeons 1 


1  Reproduced,    by    permission,    from    "  Domesticated    Animals    and    Plants,"  by 
E.  Davenport. 


EXHIBITIONS  AND  THE  FANCY  TRADE         299 

to  conceal  a  fault.  In  regard  to  disqualifying  for  trivial  faults, 
fanciers  differ  in  opinion.  Many  hold  that  this  has  been  carried 
to  a  ridiculous  extreme  in  some  cases.  Thus,  in  all  clean-legged 
fowls  it  is  required  that  the  shanks  and  toes  shall  be  free  from 
small  feathers,  stubs,  or  down.  Most  fanciers  agree  that  con- 
spicuous feathers  and  stubs  should  disqualify,  but  many  consider 
that  to  disqualify  for  a  minute  bit  of  down,  which  can  hardly 
be  seen  without  the  aid  of  a  magnifying  glass,  is  going  too  far. 

Unless  the  judge  has  overlooked  a  disqualification  (and  this 
rarely  happens),  none  will  be  found  on  a  bird  that  has  been 
awarded  a  prize.  If  in  any  class  there  is  a  bird  which  is  not 
given  a  place,  though  apparently  superior  to  any  of  the  prize  win- 
ners in  the  characters  most  distinctive  of  its  variety,  that  bird 
usually  has  some  disqualification.  The  list  of  disqualifications  is 
too  long  to  be  given  here.  It  is  not  the  same  throughout  for  all 
varieties.  Exhibitors  and  breeders  do  not  attempt  to  keep  track 
of  the  disqualifications  (which  are  changed  occasionally)  for  any 
but  the  varieties  in  which  they  are  especially  interested. 

Methods  of  judging.  When  exhibitions  of  domestic  birds 
were  first  held,  the  awards  were  usually  made  by  committees  of 
two  or  three  judges.  The  object  in  doing  this  was  to  insure 
impartiality  and  to  make  connivance  between  a  judge  and  an 
exhibitor  more  difficult.  It  was  found  that  this  plan  did  not 
work  well.  Often  the  opinions  of  one  man  dominated,  or,  if  the 
man  could  not  have  his  way,  the  committee  wrangled  and  took 
too  long  to  make  its  decisions.  So  by  degrees  the  committee 
plan  was  abandoned  and  a  single  judge  made  the  awards  in 
accordance  with  standards  and  rules  agreed  upon  by  associations 
of  exhibitors  and  judges. 

At  first  all  judging  was  done  by  comparison  of  the  specimens 
of  each  class  entered  in  competition.  That  is  the  method  still 
in  general  use  in  Europe  and  widely  used  in  America.  But  to 
many  exhibitors  comparison  judging  seemed  unsatisfactory,  be- 
cause by  it  only  the  winning  birds  were  indicated,  and  exhibitors 


300  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

whose  birds  did  not  win  usually  wanted  to  know  how  their  birds 
compared  with  the  winners.  To  meet  this  demand  score-card 
judging  was  adopted.  In  this  method  of  judging,  the  characters 
to  be  considered  are  divided  into  sections,  which  are  named  in 
order  on  a  card  having  corresponding  blank  spaces  in  which  to 
mark  numerical  cuts  for  faults  in  each  section.  The  score  cards 
used  at  poultry  shows  where  judging  is  done  by  that  method  do 
not  indicate  to  which  of  several  possible  faults  a  cut  applies,  ex- 
cept that,  having  one  column  for  shape  cuts  and  another  for  color 
cuts,  they  show  in  which  class  the  fault  appears.  In  many  educa- 
tional and  private  score  cards  the  names  of  the  common  faults 
in  each  section  are  printed  in  the  space  allotted  that  section,  in 
order  that  the  fault  may  be  accurately  checked.  The  use  of  cards 
with  so  much  detail  is  not  practical  in  ordinary  competition. 

The  score  of  a  bird  judged  by  the  score-card  method  is  the 
difference  between  100  (taken  as  the  symbol  of  the  perfect  bird 
of  any  variety)  and  the  sum  of  all  the  cuts  made  for  faults.  The 
common  cuts  for  faults  are  ^  for  a  slight  fault,  I  for  a  pro- 
nounced fault,  and  i  ^  for  a  very  bad  fault.  Occasionally  larger  cuts 
are  made  for  serious  faults.  Theoretically  the  score  is  supposed  to 
represent  accurately  the  relation  of  a  specimen  to  a  perfect  speci- 
men, but  really  scores  only  represent  in  a  general  way  the  judges' 
opinions  of  the  relative  values  of  the  birds  in  a  class,  and  in- 
dicate to  the  exhibitor  where  the  judge  found  faults  in  his  bird. 

Exhibition  quality  and  value.  The  winning  of  a  prize  at  an 
important  show  gives  a  breeder  of  fancy  birds  a  standing  that 
he  could  not  otherwise  acquire.  The  greater  part  of  the  sales  of 
poultry  of  this  class  are  made  by  mail  to  persons  who  do  not 
know  the  breeder  personally  and  do  not  see  his  stock  until  after 
purchasing.  No  matter  how  good  his  stock  may  be,  those  who 
want  to  buy  will  not  pay  much  attention  to  his  claims  for  its 
superior  quality  until  they  have  such  confirmation  of  those 
claims  as  is  given  by  the  winning  of  prizes  in  competition. 
Then  the  prices  which  a  breeder  can  get  for  his  stock  will  be 


EXHIBITIONS  AND  THE  FANCY  TRADE          301 

regulated  largely  by  the  prices  obtained  by  other  successful 
exhibitors  at  shows  of  the  same  class. 

There  is  a  wide  range  of  prices  from  those  that  can  be 
secured  for  stock  of  the  quality  that  wins  at  the  greatest  shows, 
to  those  that  can  be  obtained  for  the  kind  that  wins  at  ordinary 
small  shows.  High  prices  are  paid  for  noted  winners  and  for 
other  stock  of  the  same  breeding,  as  much  for  the  advertising 
value  of  ownership  of  fine  stock  as  for  the  actual  value  of  the 
birds  to  breed  from  or  to  exhibit  again.  A  breeder  who  wins  at 
some  very  small  show  may  find  it  hard  to  sell  either  stock  or 
eggs  for  hatching  except  at  a  slight  advance  over  market  prices. 
Some  breeders  who  have  made  remarkable  records  in  winning 
at  the  best  shows  can  get  very  high  prices  for  their  prize-winning 
stock  and  for  the  eggs  from  it.  Fowls  sometimes  sell  as  high  as 
$500  each,  and  eggs  at  $2  each.  Pigeons  also  bring  very  high 
prices  at  times,  although  fewer  people  are  interested  in  them 
and  sales  are  not  so  numerous.  The  ordinary  prices  for  good 
stock  are  quite  reasonable,  considering  how  few  really  fine  speci- 
mens are  produced.  The  average  novice  finds  that  fowls  at  from 
$10  to  $25  a  trio  and  pigeons  at  from  $5  to  $15  a  pair  have  all 
the  quality  that  he  can  appreciate. 

In  the  early  days  of  modern  fancy  poultry  culture  those 
breeders  who  had  great  reputations  could  get  relatively  high 
prices  for  almost  any  bird  that  would  pass  as  a  breeding  speci- 
men of  its  kind.  This  is  still  true  of  breeders  who  successfully 
introduce  new  varieties  or  who  suddenly  attain  prominence  with 
stock  of  their  own  breeding.  But  as  the  stock  of  a  leading 
breeder  becomes  widely  distributed  among  smaller  breeders,  the 
competition  of  his  customers  reduces  his  sales,  and  especially 
the  sales  of  the  cheaper  grades  of  stock.  The  most  troublesome 
problem  that  the  best  breeders  have  is  to  get  rid  of  the  lower 
grades  of  their  stock  at  a  fair  profit. 

Why  good  breeders  have  much  low-priced  stock.  Novices  in 
the  breeding  of  fine  stock  commonly  suppose  that  all  pure-bred 


302  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

stock  of  any  variety  is  of  uniform  quality.  When  they  learn  that, 
as  a  rule,  only  a  small  part  of  the  young  birds  hatched  from  good 
stock  is  considered  of  superior  quality,  they  often  conclude  that 
the  ideas  and  the  standards  of  fanciers  must  be  wrong.  Even 
professional  and  scientific  men  who  become  interested  in  fancy 
poultry  and  pigeons  often  take  this  view  and,  after  considering 
the  question  carefully  from  their  standpoint,  try  to  explain  to  fan- 
ciers how,  by  changing  a  standard,  they  might  secure  a  much 
larger  proportion  of  specimens  approximately  perfect  according 
to  the  standard  used.  In  the  case  of  varieties  in  which  the  finest 
specimens  of  the  different  sexes  are  secured  from  different  mat- 
ings,  many  novices  waste  a  great  deal  of  time  trying  to  con- 
vince old  fanciers  that  their  standards  and  methods  are  illogical 
and  unnatural. 

To  those  who  do  not  understand  the  philosophy  of  the  interest 
in  breeding  to  highly  specialized  types  the  arguments  for  stand- 
ards that  are  adjusted  to  common  results  and  are  easy  to  attain 
appear  to  be  unanswerable.  Upon  the  fancier  who  does  under- 
stand this  philosophy  they  make  no  impression  at  all.  The 
breeding  and  exhibiting  of  fancy  stock  of  any  kind  is  primarily 
a  game.  The  rules  of  the  game  are  in  a  measure  arbitrary,  like 
the  rules  in  baseball  or  football  or  any  other  game.  At  the  same 
time  they  must  be  framed  in  the  interests  of  the  development  of 
the  game  as  a  sport  and  also  as  a  spectacle.  They  must  be  rea- 
sonable and  must  be  suited  to  players  of  all  degrees  of  skill. 

Standards  and  rules  for  judging  fancy  stock  develop  just  as 
the  rules  of  athletic  games  develop.  A  generation  ago  such 
games  as  baseball  and  football  were  comparatively  simple  games 
in  which  boys  and  men  might  take  very  creditable  parts  without 
devoting  a  great  deal  of  attention  to  practice.  These  games  still 
afford  recreation  to  many  who  use  them  for  that  purpose  only, 
but  they  have  also  been  developed  so  that  players  of  exceptional 
skill  play  competition  games  for  the  interest  of  a  public  which 
studies  the  fine  points  of  these  games  and  compares  the  abilities 


EXHIBITIONS  AND  THE  FANCY  TRADE         303 

of  the  players.  People  who  take  an  interest  in  and  patronize 
professional  or  high-class  amateur  ball  games  do  so  because  in 
them  skillful  and  well-trained  players  do  difficult  things.  It  is 
the  same  in  the  breeding  of  fancy  live  stock  to  a  high  standard 
of  excellence.  When  a  breed  or  a  variety  is  first  made,  the  inter- 
est of  the  breeders  centers  in  a  few  characters,  precisely  as  the 
interest  of  a  novice  in  any  line  centers  in  a  few  prominent  fea- 
tures. As  breeders  grow  in  experience  and  in  skill,  and  as  the 
characters  to  which  they  first  give  special  attention  become  fixed, 
they  demand  better  quality  in  these  and  also  turn  their  attention 
to  the  development  of  other  characters.  The  more  difficult  a 
combination  of  characters  is  to  produce,  the  greater  interest  the 
fancier  takes  in  trying  to  produce  it.  When  a  standard  calls  for 
a  high  degree  of  excellence  in  many  characters,  the  proportion 
of  specimens  of  high  excellence,  as  measured  by  that  standard, 
will  almost  always  be  small.  It  is  because  this  is  the  case  that 
the  rare  specimens  are  considered  so  valuable. 

Fancy  and  utility  types  in  the  same  variety.  The  great 
majority  of  American  breeders  of  fancy  poultry  seek  to  secure  a 
high  degree  of  practical  value  in  combination  with  fancy  quality 
in  their  stock.  There  are  some  fanciers  who  breed  only  for  fancy 
points,  and  some  market  poultry  growers  who  pay  no  attention 
at  all  to  them,  but  as  a  rule  those  who  give  market  poultry 
special  attention  want  well-bred  stock  of  good  ordinary  quality, 
and  those  who  keep  poultry  for  pleasure  want  the  flock  kept 
for  this  purpose  to  supply  at  least  their  own  tables  with  eggs 
and  meat.  The  breeder  who  wishes  to  combine  fancy  and  utility 
properties  in  any  kind  of  live  stock  must  breed  only  from  speci- 
mens that  are  meritorious  in  both  directions,  selecting  much 
more  carefully  than  when  breeding  for  one  class  of  properties. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

OCCUPATIONS  RELATED  TO  AVICULTURE 

The  value  of  a  knowledge  of  domestic  birds  is  not  limited  to 
the  use  which  may  be  made  of  it  in  keeping  them  for  profit  or 
for  pleasure.  Any  occupation  in  which  a  great  many  people  are 
interested  affords  opportunities  to  combine  the  knowledge  relating 
to  it  with  special  knowledge  or  skill  in  other  lines,  to  the  advan- 
tage of  those  who  are  able  to  do  so.  Just  as  the  large  market  or 
fancy  poultry  business  may  develop  from  a  small  flock  kept  to 
supply  the  owner's  table  or  to  give  him  a  little  recreation,  many 
special  occupations  grow  out  of  particular  interests  of  avicul- 
turists.  Some  of  these  have  been  mentioned  incidentally  in 
preceding  chapters.  In  this  chapter  the  principal  occupations 
associated  with  aviculture  will  be  discussed  both  in  their  rela- 
tion to  that  subject  and  with  respect  to  their  possible  interest  for 
those  who  plan  to  devote  themselves  to  lines  of  work  which 
would  qualify  them  for  special  service  in  aviculture. 

Judging  fancy  poultry  and  pigeons.  There  is  the  same  dif- 
ference between  selecting  one's  own  birds  according  to  quality 
and  judging  the  birds  of  others  in  competition  that  there  is 
between  performing  well  in  a  friendly  game  and  performing 
well  in  a  competition  where  the  stakes  are  important  and  feeling 
runs  high.  Many  fanciers  who  are  good  breeders  and  also  good 
judges  under  other  conditions  make  poor  judges  in  competitions. 
In  judging  at  shows  decisions  must  be  made  quickly,  there  is 
little  opportunity  to  rectify  mistakes,  and  if  a  judge  makes 
serious  blunders  he  is  severely  criticized.  A  person  who  de- 
liberates a  long  time  before  coming  to  a  decision,  and  who  is 
very  sensitive  to  criticisms  of  his  errors,  even  though  he  knows 

3°4 


OCCUPATIONS  RELATED  TO  AVICULTURE      305 

that  some  errors  are  sure  to  be  made  by  every  one  and  that  un- 
prejudiced exhibitors  make  allowance  for  this,  will  not  make 
a  successful  judge  of  poultry  and  pigeons.  Judges  as  a  class 
are  not  the  men  who  know  the  most  about  standard-bred  birds 
or  who  are  the  most  skillful  in  breeding  them,  although  some 
of  the  best  breeders  are  among  the  best  judges.  Almost  all 
fanciers  get  opportunities  to  act  as  judges.  If  their  work  is  sat- 
isfactory, the  demand  for  their  services  increases  until  in  time 
their  income  from  this  source  may  be  large  enough  to  make 
it  worth  while  to  adjust  their  other  affairs  to  their  engagements 
at  poultry  shows. 

Journalism.  There  were  a  few  books  on  poultry  and  pigeons 
written  in  the  first  half  of  the  last  century,  and  a  larger  number 
immediately  following  the  "  hen-fever"  period.  These  and  the 
articles  on  poultry  and  pigeons  in  agricultural  papers  constituted 
the  literature  of  the  subject  until  about  1870.  Then  there  ap- 
peared a  number  of  poultry  journals,  most  of  which  gave  some 
attention  to  other  domestic  birds.  The  demand  for  special  jour- 
nals arose  because  many  people  who  were  interested  in  poultry 
were  living  in  cities  and  were  not  interested  in  general  agri- 
culture ;  they  wanted  more  information  about  poultry  matters 
than  the  agricultural  papers  could  give.  Advertisers  of  poultry 
and  pigeons,  and  of  goods  bought  by  aviculturists,  also  wished 
advertising  mediums  through  which  they  could  reach  buyers  at 
less  cost  than  they  could  through  the  agricultural  papers.  The 
rates  for  advertising  are  based  upon  circulation,  and  if  only  a 
small  class  of  the  readers  of  a  publication  are  buyers  of  a 
particular  class  of  goods  advertised  in  it,  the  cost  of  reaching 
them  may  be  too  great.  Whenever  any  interest  becomes  of 
sufficient  importance,  journals  especially  devoted  to  it  are  issued, 
for  the  convenience  of  buyers  and  sellers  as  well  as  for  the  in- 
formation they  contain.  Until  about  1890  nearly  all  poultry 
journals  were  small  publications  which  the  owners  looked  after 
in  their  spare  time.  Then  they  began  to  increase  in  number  and 


306  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

importance,  and  before  long  there  were  a  great  many  that  gave 
regular  employment  to  editors,  advertising  solicitors,  and  sub- 
scription solicitors,  who  were  employed  for  their  knowledge  of 
poultry  and  their  acquaintance  with  poultrymen  as  well  as  for 
special  qualifications  for  their  respective  departments. 

Art.  The  illustrating  of  poultry  journals  and  books,  and  of  the 
catalogues  of  fanciers  and  other  advertisers  in  poultry  literature, 
gives  employment  to  a  constantly  increasing  number  of  artists. 
In  order  to  successfully  portray  birds  for  critical  fanciers,  an  artist 
must  be  something  of  a  fancier.  It  is  not  enough  that  he  should 
draw  or  paint  them  as  he  sees  them  ;  he  must  know  how  to  pose 
birds  of  different  kinds,  types,  and  breeds  so  that  his  pictures 
will  show  the  proper  characteristic  poses  and  show  the  most 
important  characters  to  their  best  advantage.  Since  the  half-tone 
process  of  making  illustrations  was  perfected,  the  greatest  demand 
is  for  photographic  work,  but  unless  an  artist  is  able  to  work  over 
and  complete  a  defective  photograph  with  brush  or  pencil,  he  can- 
not make  this  line  of  work  profitable.  Most  birds  are  difficult  sub- 
jects to  photograph,  and  only  a  small  proportion  of  the  photographs 
that  are  taken  can  be  used  without  retouching.  A  photographer 
may  work  for  an  hour  to  get  a  bird  posed  to  suit  him,  and  then, 
just  as  he  presses  the  bulb,  the  bird,  by  a  slight  movement  of 
the  head  or  foot,  may  spoil  one  feature  in  a  photograph  that  is 
otherwise  all  that  could  be  desired.  An  artist  who  can  draw  birds 
can  remedy  such  defects  ;  the  ordinary  commercial  artist  cannot. 

Invention.  The  most  important  invention  used  in  aviculture 
is  the  artificial  incubator.  Methods  of  hatching  eggs  by  arti- 
ficial heat  were  developed  independently  by  the  Egyptians  and 
by  the  Chinese  thousands  of  years  ago,  and  are  still  used  in 
Egypt  and  China.  The  arrangements  used  in  these  old  hatch- 
eries are  crude,  and  the  success  of  the  operation  depends  upon 
exceptional  skill  and  judgment  on  the  part  of  the  operator. 
Operating  incubators  is  a  business  continued  in  the  same  families 
for  centuries.  Each  hatchery  does  the  hatching  for  a  community. 


OCCUPATIONS  RELATED  TO  AVICULTURE      307 

In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  French  scientist 
named  Reaumur,  who  was  much  interested  in  poultry,  began  to 
make  experiments  in  artificial  hatching  and  brooding.  In  1750 
he  published  a  very  full  account  of  these  and  other  experiments 
which  he  had  made  with  poultry.  His  idea  was  to  devise  a  modi- 
fication of  the  Egyptian  practice  of  hatching  in  ovens,  suited  to 
the  conditions  of  a  more  advanced  civilization.  He  succeeded  in 
hatching  eggs  by  utilizing  the  waste  heat  from  a  baker's  oven, 
and  also  hatched  eggs  in  hotbeds  heated  with  decomposing 
manure.  He  applied  the  hotbed  principle  to  the  brooding  of 
chickens  with  some  success.  But  the  methods  that  he  devised 
were  not  adapted  to  general  use. 

After  Reaumur  many  others  experimented  with  artificial  hatch- 
ing. Some  of  the  ideas  were  obviously  more  impractical  than 
those  of  Reaumur,  but  the  experimenters  tried  them  out  and 
sometimes  succeeded  in  hatching  chickens  by  very  peculiar 
and  laborious  processes.  One  man  in  England,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  hatched  some  chickens  from  eggs 
placed  in  cotton  batting  in  a  sieve  adjusted  over  a  charcoal  fire 
in  a  small  fireplace.  The  fire  was  watched  constantly  for  three 
weeks,  either  by  himself  or  by  some  member  of  his  family.  He 
demonstrated  that  eggs  could  be  hatched  in  this  way,  but  not 
that  it  could  be  done  profitably.  Practical  incubators  were  not 
produced  until  about  forty  years  ago. 

Although  incubators  and  brooders  have  been  brought  to  a 
relatively  high  state  of  efficiency,  they  are  far  from  perfect.  In- 
ventors of  the  best  machines  are  still  studying  ways  to  improve 
them.  In  this  and  many  other  fields  there  are  opportunities  for 
inventive  genius. 

Education  and  investigation.  Lectures  on  poultry  have  been 
given  occasionally  at  agricultural  institutes  in  the  United  States 
since  about  1860.  After  1890  the  demand  for  such  lectures, 
and  the  number  given,  constantly  increased,  and  ability  to  speak 
in  public  became  valuable  to  one  versed  in  aviculture.  Then  the 


308  OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 

study  of  poultry  culture  was  introduced  into  agricultural  colleges, 
and  a  new  field  was  opened  to  poultry  keepers  with  a  faculty  for 
teaching,  and  for  trained  teachers  with  special  knowledge  of 
domestic  birds.  The  teaching  of  poultry  culture  impressed  upon 
those  engaged  in  it  the  need  of  scientific  investigation  of  many 
problems  not  clearly  understood  even  by  the  best-informed 
poultrymen. 

The  agricultural  experiment  stations  had  been  giving  little  at- 
tention to  some  of  these  problems  except  in  a  desultory  way  and 
without  important  results.  As  the  demands  for  more  accurate 
information  on  many  topics  increased,  many  of  the  experiment 
stations  began  to  make  important  poultry  investigations.  For 
this  work  men  specially  trained  in  various  sciences  were  required. 
As  a  rule  the  men  that  were  secured  for  such  work  knew  very 
little  about  poultry  when  they  began  their  investigations,  but  it 
was  much  easier  for  them  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  poultry 
sufficient  for  their  needs  than  for  persons  who  had  poultry  knowl- 
edge and  no  scientific  training  to  qualify  for  positions  as  inves- 
tigators. The  field  of  investigation  of  matters  relating  to  poultry 
is  constantly  being  extended.  Proficiency  in  physics,  chemistry, 
biology,  surgery,  and  medicine,  and  in  higher  mathematics  as 
far  as  it  relates  to  the  problems  of  any  of  the  sciences  mentioned, 
will  always  be  in  demand  for  scientific  work  in  aviculture.  In 
the  future  the  most  efficient  teachers  and  investigators  will  be 
those  whose  early  familiarity  with  domestic  birds  has  given  a 
greater  insight  into  the  subject  than  is  usually  possessed  by  those 
who  take  up  the  study  of  the  subject  comparatively  late  in  life. 

Manufacturing  and  commerce.  It  is  very  much  easier  to  build 
up  a  large  business  in  the  manufacture  or  the  sale  of  articles 
used  by  poultry  and  pigeon  keepers  than  to  build  up  a  large 
business  as  a  breeder  of  domestic  birds  of  any  kind.  As  has 
been  stated  in  connection  with  nearly  every  kind  of  bird  men- 
tioned in  this  book,  a  poultry  keeper's  operations  are  limited  by 
the  difficulty  of  keeping  large  numbers  of  birds  continuously  on 


OCCUPATIONS  RELATED  TO  AVICULTURE      309 

the  same  land,  and  also  by  the  exacting  nature  of  the  work  of 
caring  for  them  under  such  conditions.  In  manufacturing  and 
commercial  operations  there  are  no  such  limitations.  The  pos- 
sibilities of  development  depend  upon  the  extent  of  the  demand 
for  the  articles  that  are  manufactured  or  sold,  and  only  a  small 
proportion  of  the  employees  need  to  be  persons  versed  in  avi- 
culture. But  in  competition  with  other  manufacturers  or  mer- 
chants those  who  understand  domestic  birds  and  know  all  the 
different  phases  of  interest  in  them  have  a  very  great  advantage 
over  those  who  do  not. 

Legislation  and  litigation.  The  rise  of  new  industries  creates 
new  problems  for  legislators,  executive  departments,  courts,  and 
lawyers.  An  industry  in  which  many  people  are  interested 
eventually  reaches  a  stage  where  it  is  profitable  for  lawyers  to 
specialize  to  some  extent  in  laws  affecting  it,  and  politic  for  legis- 
lators and  administrators  to  do  what  is  in  their  power  to  protect 
the  interests  of  those  engaged  in  it,  and  to  advance  those  interests 
for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  community.  A  special  field  is  open- 
ing for  lawyers  familiar  with  aviculture  and  with  its  relations  to 
other  matters,  just  as  within  a  few  years  the  field  has  opened 
to  teachers  and  investigators. 

The  possible  uses  of  a  knowledge  of  aviculture  to  young 
people  who  are  naturally  inclined  toward  intellectual  professions, 
art,  invention,  manufacturing,  or  trading  have  not  been  given 
for  the  sake  of  urging  students  to  direct  their  course  especially 
toward  work  connected  with  aviculture.  The  object  is  only  to 
show  those  who  take  an  interest  in  the  subject  that  it  is  worth 
while  to  cultivate  that  interest  for  other  reasons,  as  well  as  for  the 
profit  or  the  pleasure  that  may  be  immediately  derived  from  it. 


INDEX 


Abbotsbury,  old  swannery  at,  229 

Africa,  guinea  fowl  in,  202  ;  ostrich 
breeding  in,  235 

African  goose,  164  ;  illustrated,  164 

Age,  of  earth,  25;  of  fowls,  92;  of  geese, 
169;  of  swans,  223;  of  ostriches,  232 

Agricultural  experiment  stations,  in- 
terest of,  in  aviculture,  308 

Agricultural  fairs,  poultry  exhibitions 
at,  292 

Aigret  of  peafowl,  208 

Albumen,  formation  of,  in  egg,  17 

Alfalfa,  140,  236- 

American  Wild  Goose,  165;  illus- 
trated, 166 

American  Wild  Pigeon,  241 

Amherst  Pheasant,  illustrated,  214 

A  neon  a,  64 

Andalusian,  Blue,  49,  64 

Animal  kingdom,  place  of  birds  in,  2 

Animals,  having  bird  characters,  i  ; 
predacious,  prevent  use  of  colony 
system,  107 

Annual  production  of  poultry  and 
eggs  in  United  States,  290 

Antwerp  Homer  Pigeon,  246 

Art,  relation  of,  to  poultry  culture, 
306 

Aseel,  50 

Ashes,  use  of,  in  poultry  house,  715 

Asia,  peafowl  in,  208 ;  pheasants  in, 

212 

Asiatic  races  of  fowls,  49 

Australia,  Black  Swan  discovered  in, 

223 

Austria,  goose  growing  in,  167 
Aylesbury    Duck,    129;  as   a  market 

duck  in  America,  147 

Babylonians,     knowledge     of     fowls 

among,  36 
Bache,  importation  of  pheasants  by, 

212 

Bakubas,  ducks  among  the,  127 
Bantams,  66;   illustrated,  37,  66,    67, 

68,  69,  70 


Barbs  of  feather,  9 

Barnum,  P.  T.,  promoter  of  an  early 

poultry  show,  53 
Barrel   of   dressed    poultry   iced   for 

shipment,  illustrated,  284 
Barring,  quality  in,  295 
Bat,  a  flying  animal,  i 
Bath,    for   ducks,    139;   for   pigeons, 

261  ;  for  canaries,  273 
Beard,  of  fowls,  10;  of  turkeys,  180 
Bedding  for  ducks,  138 
Beef  scrap,  116,  140 
Belgian  Canary,  271;  illustrated,  271 
Bill,  of  duck,  124;  of  goose,  158 
Bird,  use  of  term,  2 
Birdseed,  composition  of,  273 
Black  Swan,  223 
Blackhead  in  turkeys,  198 
Blood,  feeding,  to  fowls,  90 
Boat,  swimming  bird  model  for,  3,  124 
Boston,  first  poultry  show  held  in,  52 
Boston  Common,  feeding  pigeons  on, 

illustrated,  245 
Bourbon  Red  Turkey,  187;  illustrated, 

1 88 

Brahma  Bantams,  71  ;  illustrated,  70 
Brahmaputras,  53 
Brahmas,    Light,   illustrated,    22,    36, 

37  ;  Dark,  illustrated,  51  ;  used  for 

roasters,  1 16 
Bran,  78,  89 
Branding  swans,  225 
Bread,  feeding,  to  swans,  228 
Breast  in  birds,  relation  of  develop- 
ment of,  to  flight,  12 
Breed,  defined,  28 
Bremen  Goose,  161 
Broiler  growing,  1 1 2 
Bronze  Turkey,   183;  illustrated,  186 
Broody  hen,  actions  of,  93 
Brown  eggs,  preference  for,  in  Boston, 

289 

Brunswick  Goose,  161 
Bucks  County  Fowl,  56 
Buff  Turkey,  187 
Buoyancy  of  aquatic  birds,  15 


312 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


Burnham,  author  of  "  The  History  of 

the  Hen  Fever,"  53 
Buttermilk,  98 

Cabbage  for  poultry,  89,  117,  140 
Cackling  of  fowls,  33 
Cages  for  canaries,  272 
Call  Ducks,  133,  134;  illustrated,  135 
Cambridgeshire  Bronze  Turkey,  182 
Canada  Goose,  165;  illustrated,  166 
Canary  Islands,  canaries  in,  269 
Candling  eggs,    21,   283;    illustrated, 

282 

Capon,  1 1 6 

Carneaux  squabs,  illustrated,  266 
Carrier  Pigeon,  243 
Cart,  used  on  poultry  farm,  illustrated, 

102 

Cats  and  canaries,  272 

Cayuga  Duck,  131 

Cement  floor  in  poultry  house,  74 

Central  America,  turkey  in,  181 

Ceylon,  peafowl  in,  209 

Chalazae,  function  of,  17 

Charcoal  fire,  incubating  eggs  over,  307 

Chicken,  exclusion  of,  22  ;  technical 

use  of  term,  35 
Chickweed  for  canaries,  273 
Children  as  poultry  keepers,  39,  42 
China,   introduction   of  poultry  into, 

36;  Pekin  Duck  brought  from,  131  ; 

artificial  incubation  in,  305 
China  Geese,  162  ;  illustrated,  162,  163 
Chinese  races  of  fowls,  51 
Cities,  relation  of  growth  of,  to  poultry 

culture,  278 

Classes  of  domestic  birds,  6 
Clover,  140 

Clucking  of  hen,  33,  93 
Cochin,  Buff,  illustrated,  50;  Black, 

used  in  making  Plymouth  Rock,  57  ; 

Partridge,  judging,  296 
Cochin  Bantams,  69  ;  illustrated,  69 
Cock,  use  of  term,  34 
Cockfighting,  prohibition  of,  5 
Cockerel,  35 
Cold  storage,  112,  285 
Colony  houses,  illustrated,   101,  103, 

104,  106 

Colony  system  of  poultry  keeping,  101 
Color,  in  feathers,  10;  of  wild  ances- 
tor of  domestic  fowl,  27  ;  of  wild 

ancestor  of  domestic  pigeon,  247  ; 

consideration  of,  in  judging,  294 
Comb,  of  fowl,  33,  1 17  ;  of  guinea,  200 


Commerce,  relations  of,  to  avicul- 
ture, 308 

Common  Pheasant,  214 

Comparison  judging,  299 

Confinement,  effect  of,  on  egg  produc- 
tion, 72,  74 

Cooling  dressed  poultry,  285  ;  illus- 
trated, 287 

Coop,  made  of  dry-goods  box,  illus- 
trated, 75  ;  for  hens  and  chicks,  97  ; 
illustrated,  97,  98,  106;  for  turkey 
hen  and  brood,  illustrated,  197  ;  for 
pheasants,  illustrated,  218,  219 

Corn,  cracked,  78,  98,  103,  116,  140, 
175;  feeding,  on  cob,  89;  soaking 
whole,  89 ;  for  sitting  hens,  95  ; 
stale,  220 

Corn  meal  for  chicks,  78,  89,  97 

Cornfield,  poultry  in,  106;  illustrated, 

122 

Cracker  crumbs  for  chicks,  98 
Creameries  as  egg-collecting  depots, 

280 
Creamy  tint  in  white  feathers,  cause 

of,  1 1 
Crest,    occurrence    of,   in    fowls,    10; 

consideration  of,  in  judging,  295 
Crested  White  Duck,  133 
Crop,  function  of,  16 ;  size  of,  in  duck, 

140;  peculiarity  of,  in  ostrich,  232 
Croppers,  250 
Crossbred,  defined,  29 
Crow  of  cock,  33 

Grower,  colloquial  use  of  term,  35 
Cuckoo,   laying  habit    of,    i ;  mating 

habits  of,  3  ;  fowls,  43 
Curl  in  tail  of  drake,  127 
Cuttle  bone  for  canaries,  273 
Cygnet,  224 

Darknecked  Pheasant,  214 

Decoration,  feathers  used  for,  32 

Decorative  plumage,  10 

Deer's  hair  for  canaries'  nests,  274 

Diet  of  birds,  15 

Disqualifications  for  exhibitions,  298 

Domestication,  adaptability  of  species 

to,  7 

Dominique,  43,  55,  57;  illustrated,  43 
Dorking,  44,  55;  illustrated,  44 
Dove,  origin  and  use  of  term,  240 
Dovecots,  great  number  of,  in  England 

in  medieval  times,  252 
Down,  defined,  8;  replaced  by  feathers, 

ii ;  sometimes  a  disqualification,  299 


INDEX 


313 


Dragoon  pigeon,  251  ;  illustrated,  241 
Drawing  poultry,  289 
Dressed  poultry,  283  ;  illustrated,  285 
Dressed  squabs,  illustrated,  267 
Driving  turkeys  to  market,  illustrated, 

199,  280,  281 
Droppings  board,  75 
Duck  farms,  illustrated,  146,  14?*  149, 

T5° 

Dumb  ducks,  127 
Dust  bath  for  fowls,  76 
Dutch  artists,  paintings  of  poultry  by, 

48 

Dutch  races  of  fowls,  47 
Dwarf  fowls,  64 

Eared  Pheasants,  216 

Earth,  relation  of  age  of,  to  evolution, 
26 

East  India  Duck,  133 

Egg,  description  of,  16 

Eggs,  uses  of,  4  ;  number  of,  set  under 
hen,  95;  boiled  for  chicks,  98;  quality 
of  ducks'  and  hens',  compared,  124 

Egypt,  fowls  in  ancient,  36 ;  goose  sa- 
cred in  ancient,  166;  pigeons  in,  244; 
artificial  incubation  in,  305 

Egyptian  Goose,  165 

Egyptian  hieroglyphics,  duck  in,  127  ; 
goose  in,  157 

Embryo,  growth  of,  16,  21 

Emden  Goose,  158;  illustrated,  158 

England,  colony  poultry  houses  in, 
107 

English  Pheasant,  215 

English  races  of  fowls,  46 

Evolution,  theory  of,  25 

Exhibition  Game  Bantams,  70;  illus- 
trated, 37 

Exhibitions  of  poultry,  illustrated, 
292,  297 

Face  of  fowl,  appearance  of,  8 
Fancier,  philosophy  of  the,  302 
Fanciers,    influence    of,    on    develop- 
ment of  types,  37 

Fancy  poultry  plant,  illustrated,  121 
Fantail  Pigeon,  249,  296;  illustrated, 

298 

Farm  stock  of  poultry,  illustrated,  84 
Fattening    chickens    in    crates,    illus- 
trated, 279 
Feather  beds,  31 

Feathers,  uses  of,  4,  31  ;  structure  of, 
8  ;  resistance  of,  to  water,  1 5 


Feeding  young  ducks  on  duck  farm, 

illustrated,  153 
Fence   for   ducks,    139;    for  turkeys, 

192,  197 

Feral  race,  distinguished  from  wild,  35 
Fertile     egg,     appearance    of,    when 

tested,  96 
Feudal  system,  regulation  under,  of 

use  of  birds  in  hunting,  5 
Flatheaded  Canary,  illustrated,  271 
Flaxseed  for  canaries,  272 
Flies,  ducks  catching,  144 
Flight  of  birds,  2 
Floors  in  poultry  houses,  73 
Fly  for  pigeons,  257 
Flying  machine,  bird  a  model  for,  2 
Food,  of  birds,  15  ;  of  fowls,  78 
Foot  feathering,  37  ;  consideration  of, 

in  judging,  295 
Fowl,  use  of  term,  2 
Fowls  and  pheasants  in   same   yard, 

illustrated,  220 
French  races  of  fowls,  48 
Frillback  Pigeons,  illustrated,  252 
Frizzled  fowls,  65 

Callus  Bankiva,  35  ;  cock,  illustrated. 

42 
Game,  resemblance  of  Brown  Pit  to 

wild  progenitor,  27 
Game  Bantam,  37 

Gander,  160;  righting,  in  Russia,  162 
Garden,    keeping    chickens    in,    83 ; 

keeping  ducks  in,  145 
Germ  of  egg,  16 
German  artists,  paintings  of  poultry 

by  old,  48 

German  races  of  fowls,  47 
Germany,  goose  growing  in,  167 
Gizzard,  function  of,   16;   peculiarity 

of,  in  ostrich,  232 
Gobbler,  use  of  term,  180 
Golden  Pheasant,  215 
Goldfinch,      American,      erroneously 

called  a  canary,  270 
Goose-fattening  farm,  illustrated,  175 
Goslings,  growth  of,  illustrated,  172; 

grazing,  illustrated,  174 
Gough,  John  B.,  a  noted  poultry  fan- 
cier, 53 

Grade,  defined,  29 
Grass,  in  poultry  yards,  72  ;  growing 

goslings  on,  172 
Grasshoppers,  turkeys  as   destroyers 

of,  194 


314 


OUR  DOMESTIC  BIRDS 


Gray  Lag  Goose,  160 

Green  ducks,  144 

Grit,  use  of,  for  poultry,  16 

Guinea,  color  pattern  in  feathers  of, 

10  ;  White,  illustrated,  202,  204 
Gunpowder,  use  of  pigeon  manure  in 

manufacture  of,  253 

Hair,  relation  of,  to  feathers,  8 

Hamburg,  Silver-Spangled, illustrated, 
46 

Hamburg  chicks,  early  growth  of 
feathers  of,  1 1 

Handling  ducks,  125 

Handling  pigeons,  262 

Harz  Mountain  Canaries,  271 

Hatching  season,  natural,  93 

Hawk-colored  fowls,  43 

Hawks  and  guineas,  204 

Hempseed  for  canaries,  274 

Hen  Pigeons,  illustrated,  251 

Hen-tailed  Bantams,  70 

Heron,  flight  of,  12 

Holland  Turkey,  White,  182;  illus- 
trated, 184,  185 

Homer  Pigeons,  243;  Flying,  illus- 
trated, 241,  242,  246  ;  squab-breed- 
ing, illustrated,  247 ;  squabs  of, 
illustrated,  266 

Houdan  male,  illustrated,  48 

House,  for  fowls,  73,  85,  101,  108;  il- 
lustrated, 74,  76,  77,  85-89,  118; 
with  open  front  protected  by  hood, 
illustrated,  89;  forgrowing  chickens, 
illustrated,  99,  116;  old  stone,  on 
Rhode  Island  farm,  illustrated,  100  ; 
moving  a  colony  to,  104  ;  interior  of 
a  compartment  in,  illustrated,  no; 
for  ducks,  138;  illustrated,  150,  151  ; 
for  geese,  169;  for  turkeys,  190; 
illustrated,  191  ;  for  pheasants,  219 

House  and  fly  for  pigeons,  illustrated, 
255,  259,  262-265 

Houses  at  agricultural  colleges  and 
experiment  stations,  illustrated,  79, 
88,  90,  91,  109 

Hungarian  Pheasant,  214 

Hybrid,  defined,  25 

Ice  supply  on  large  duck  farms,  154 
Incubation,    appearance    of    eggs    at 
various    stages    of,   illustrated,    20, 
21  ;    period    of,   96,    142,    171,    196, 

2O5,    210,   220,    228,   236,   267,   275 

Incubator  cellar,  illustrated,  115 


Incubators,  306;  introduction  of,  on 
Long  Island  duck  farms,  148; 
mammoth,  152 

India,  antiquity  of  fowl  in,  36;  pea- 
fowl in,  209 

Indian  Runner  Duck,  132,  141  ;  illus- 
trated, 132,  133 

Insects,  birds  as  destroyers  of,  5 
Instinct,  relation  of,  to  incubation,  19  ; 

homing,  in  pigeons,  243 
Intelligence  of  birds,  3 
Intensive  poultry  farms,  no 
Invention, relation  of, to  aviculture, 306 
Italian  races  of  fowls,  46 

Jacobin  Pigeon,  illustrated,  243 
Japan,  antiquity  of  fowl  in,  36 
Japanese  Bantams,  68 ;  illustrated,  68 
Japanese    Long-Tailed     Fowl,    illus- 
trated, 52 

Japanese  races  of  fowls,  51 
Java,  Black,  58 
Java,  peafowl  in,  209 
Jersey  Blue,  56 
Johnnycake  for  chicks,  98 
Journalism,  305 
Judging,  293,  304 

Kafirs,  their  method  of  pulling  .stumps 

of  ostrich  plumes,  238 
Kentucky,  turkeys  in,  189 
Killing  poultry,  284 

Land  plaster,  use  of,  in  poultry  houses, 

75 

Langshan,  Black,  illustrated,  40,  41 
Language,  capacity  of  birds  for,  2 
Laugher  Pigeon,  239 
Lavender  Guinea,  203 
Lawn  clippings  for  poultry,  76 
Laying  capacity  of  birds,  18,  127 
Laying  habits  of  birds,  141, 170, 195,  266 
Leaves  for  litter  in  poultry  houses,  76 
Leg  of  bird,  contraction  of,  in  perching, 

M 

Leghorn,  46;  illustrated,  10,  11,  4=;, 
8 1  ;  early  growth  of  feathers  of,  1 1 

Legislation  relating  to  aviculture,  309 

Lettuce  for  canaries,  273 

Lice,  how  fowls  rid  themselves  of,  77  ; 
to  destroy,  on  sitting  hens,  96 

Lime  in  eggshells,  16 

Lincolnshire  Buff,  63 

Litter  in  poultry  houses,  76,  138 

Lizard  Canary,  271 


INDEX 


315 


Long  Island  duck  farms,  146 
Losses  due  to  bad  handling  of  poultry 

produce,  282 
Lyell,  James  C.,  on  origin  of  domestic 

pigeon,  240 

Malay  fowl,  50 

Mallard  Duck,  126;  illustrated,  127 
Maltese  Hen  Pigeon,  252 
Manchester  Coppy,  271 
Manchurian  Pheasant,  illustrated,  215 
Mandarin  Duck,  134 
Mangel-wurzels,  89 
Manure,  poultry,  use  of,  75;  pigeon, 
used  in  manufacture  of  gunpowder, 

253 
Mash,  time  of  feeding,  78  ;  method  of 

making,  89;    use   of,   89,  98,   140; 

cooking,  103 
Meat  meal,  140 
Mexico,  turkey  in,  181 
Middlemen,  275 

Milk, feeding,  tochicks, 98;  pigeon,  267 
Minorcas,  illustrated,  48,  49 
Molting,  1 1 

Monaul,  illustrated,  216 
Mondaine  Pigeon,  Swiss,  illustrated, 

242 
Mongolian  Pheasant,  215  ;  illustrated, 

213 

Mongrel  Geese,  illustrated,  167 
Monks,  probable  originators  of  many 

types  of  fancy  fowls,  48 
Mule,  defined,  25 
Muscovy  Duck,  125,  129;  illustrated, 

128 
Mute  Swan,  222 

Narragansett  Turkey,  183 

Native  fowls  in  America,  43 

Neck,  handling  ducks  by,  125 

Nest  building,  18 

Nest  eggs,  94 

Nests,  fowls',  94;  ducks',  138;  geese's, 

171;    turkeys',    195;    swans',    228; 

pigeons',  259,  264;  canaries',  274 
Netherlands,  Indian  Runner  Duck  in, 

132 

Netted  Guinea,  203 
New  Jersey,  pheasant  introduced  into, 

213 

Norfolk  Turkey,  182 
Norwich  Canary,  illustrated,  270 
Nubia,  ownership  of  fowls  in,  39 
Nun  Pigeons,  illustrated,  252 


Oatmeal  for  chicks,  98 

Oats,  78 ;  feeding,  in  sheaf,  89 

Offal  of  slaughtered  animals,  feeding, 

to  poultry,  90 
Oil  in  feathers,  1 1 

Oregon,  pheasant  introduced  into,  213 
Ornamental     birds,     number    of,     in 

domestication  limited,  7 
Ornamental  ducks,  156 
Ornamental  geese,  164 
Ornithorhynchus,  resemblance  of,  to 

bird,  i 
Orpington    Ducks,   Blue,    illustrated, 

134 
Orpington  fowl,   63 ;    illustrated,   64, 

65 
Ostrich,    illustrated,     231,    233,    235, 

237 

Outdoor  quarters  for  fowls,  72 
Ovary,  17 
Oviduct,  17 

Ovules,  numbers  of,  in  hens,  18 
Owl  Pigeon,  illustrated,  249 
Oyster  shell  for  fowls,  81 

Packing  houses,  relation  of,  to  distri- 
bution of  poultry  produce,  280 

Pairing  of  birds,  3,  168,  178,  205,  210, 
219,  236,  262,  274 

Partridge,  peculiarity  of  flight  of,  13 

Passenger  Pigeon,  241 

Peacock,  tail  of,  10;  Indian,  illustrated, 
207  .  _ 

Pearl  Guinea,  203 

Peas  for  pigeon  food,  265 

Pekin  Duck,  131,  147;  illustrated,  131, 
140,  141 

Penguin,  locomotion  of,  i 

Perches  for  pigeons,  259 

Persia,  pigeon  in  ancient,  245 

Petaluma,  egg  farming  at,  119;  illus- 
trated, 1 17 

Philadelphia  chickens,  114 

Phoenix  cockerel,  illustrated,  52 

Pied  Guinea,  203 

Pigment  in  feathers,  1 1 

Pigmy  Pouters,  251 

Plantain  for  canaries,  273 

Plucking  live  geese,  167 

Plymouth  Rock,  Barred,  57,  295  ;  illus- 
trated, 54,  55,80;  White,  58;  illus- 
trated, 56  ;  Buff,  59,  62  ;  illustrated, 
57;  Columbian,  61  ;  illustrated,  62; 
Silver-Penciled,  61  ;  illustrated,  58 

Point  Judith  Bronze  Turkey,  183 


i6 


OUR  DOMESTIC   BIRDS 


Polish,  47  ;  White,  34 ;  Silver- 
Spangled,  illustrated,  39;  White- 
Crested  Black,  47 

Pomeranian  Goose,  161 

Poult,  1 80 

Pouter  Pigeon,  250,  297  ;  illustrated, 
250 

Preserved  eggs,  286 

Prices,  how  determined,  278  ;  of  fancy 
poultry  and  pigeons,  301 

Profits,  computation  of,  72 

Pullet,  35 

Pure-bred,  defined,  30 

Quail,  laying  of,  in  captivity,  18 
Quantity  of  food,  80,  88 

Range,  advantages  of,  85 

Rapeseed  for  canaries,  273 

Reaumur,  experiments  of,  in  incuba- 
tion, 307 

Reptile,  resemblance  of  duckling  to, 
142 

Retailing  poultry  produce,  275,  288 

Rhode  Island,  goose  growing  in,  173 

Rhode  Island  Red,  61,  100 ;  illus- 
trated, 32 

Ringneck  Pheasant,  illustrated,  212 

Roaster  growing,  113;  illustrated,  1 14 

Rock  Pigeon,  241 

Roller  Canaries,  271 

Roller  Pigeons,  248 

Romans,  distribution  of  domestic 
fowl  by,  36,  46;  peacock  a  favorite 
dish  among,  209 

Rooster,  use  of  term,  34 

Rose-Comb  Black  Bantam,  illustrated, 
69 

Rotten  egg,  appearance  of,  when 
candled,  96 

Rouen  Duck,  130,  141  ;  illustrated, 
130 

Rudiments  of  judging  poultry,  293 

Ruff,  occurrence  of,  in  pigeons,  10 

Rumpless  Fowl,  65 

Running  board  for  pigeons,  260 

Runt  Pigeon,  251  ;  illustrated,  241, 
250 

Russia,  geese  in,  167 

Rye,  78,  1 16,  154 

'Saddleback  Goose,  161 
St.  Andreasberg  Roller,  271 
Salt  for  pigeons,  265 
Sawdust  in  poultry  house,  75 


Scalding  poultry,  284 

Scale  on  beak  of  young  birds,  22 

Scales,  relation  of,  to  feathers,  8 

Scoring,  300 

Scotland,  wild  pigeon  in,  240 

Scratching  of  birds,  use  of,  14 

Sebastopol  Goose,  165;  illustrated, 
165 

Sebright  Bantam,  70 ;  illustrated,  70 

Shanghai,  53 

Shavings  for  litter  in  poultry  house, 
76 

Shell  of  egg,  formation  of,  1 7 

Silky  fowl,  65 

Silver  Pheasant,  215 

Sitting  hen,  illustrated,  19;  food  for,  95 

Slate  Turkey,  187 

Slip,  an  imperfect  capon,  1 17 

Snow,  effect  of,  on  poultry,  81,  92,  107, 
125,  269  _ 

Social  relations  of  birds,  3 

South  America,  guinea  in,  202 

Space  per  bird  in  poultry  house,  86 

Spain,  turkey  in,  181 

Spanish  Goose,  162 

Spanish,  White-Faced  Black,  illus- 
trated, 38 

Spanish  races  of  fowls,  49 

Sparrow,  laying  capacity  of,  18 

Species,  predatory  relation  of,  6 ;  de- 
fined, 24;  origin  of,  25 

Sprouted  oats,  78 

Spurs,  33,  117 

Squab,  240 ;  illustrated,  266,  267 

Squeaker.    See  Squab 

Standard-bred,  defined,  30 

Standards  for  judging  exhibition  poul- 
try, 299 

Strain,  defined,  29 

Stub  feather,  9 

Subvariety,  defined,  29 

Summer  quarters  for  poultry,  illus- 
trated, 123 

Sunlight,  benefits  of,  73 

Swan  and  nest,  illustrated,  224 

Swannery,  an  English,  illustrated, 
228 

Swans  feeding  on  the  water,  illustrated, 

Swedish  Duck,  Blue,  illustrated,  133 
Swimming,  of  birds,  economic  value 

of,  14;  effect  of,  on  growth  of  ducks, 

151 
Swiss   Mondaine   Pigeon,   illustrated, 

242 


INDEX 


317 


Table  fowl,  Dorking  best  type  of,  47 
Table  scraps,  feeding  to  fowls,  77 
Tail  of  bird,  its  use  in  flight,  14 
Temperature  for  incubation,  21 
Tennessee,  turkeys  in,  189 
Testing  eggs  to  determine  fertility,  21, 

96,  142 

Thoroughbred,  defined,  30 
Tippler  Pigeon,  247 
Tom-turkey,  180 
Toulouse  Goose,  161  ;  illustrated,  159, 

160 

Train  of  peacock,  207 
Tricolor  Canary,  illustrated,  270 
Triganica  Pigeon,  242 
Trumpeter   Pigeon,    239;    illustrated, 

249 

Tula  Goose,  162 
Tumbler  Pigeon,  247  ;  illustrated,  244, 

258 

Turbit  Pigeon,  251 
Turkey,  common,  illustrated,  181 
Turkey  hen  with   brood,   illustrated, 

198 

Turkey  nest,  illustrated,  196 
Turkey  roost,  illustrated,  194 
Turnips  for  poultry,  90 

Uses  of  birds  in  domestication,  4 
Utility  types  of  poultry,  303 

Varieties,  27 
Variety,  denned,  28 
Ventilation,  261 
Versicolor  Pheasant,  215 
Virginia,  turkeys  in,  189 
Voices  of  birds,  3,  33,  126,  159,  180, 
200,  207,  223,  232,  238,  269 


Waste  food  consumed  by  street 
pigeons,  256 

Water,  81,  98,  141  ;  imperviousness  of 
feathers  to,  15;  warming,  for  fowls, 
81;  propensity  of  young  ducks  for, 
145 ;  constant  supply  of,  for  pigeons, 
illustrated,  261 

Wattles,  of  fowl,  33;  of  turkey,  179; 
of  guinea,  200;  of  pheasant,  211 

Web  of  feather,  9 

Webster,  Daniel,  exhibitor  at  first 
poultry  show  in  America,  53 

West  Indies,  guinea  in,  202 

Wheat,  78,  98,  141 

Whistling  Swan,  222 

WThite  eggs,  preference  for,  289 

White  of  egg,  formation  of,  17 

Wild  birds,  place  of,  in  civilization,  5 

Wild  geese,  growing,  in  captivity,  178 

Wings,  movement  of,  in  flight,  12 

Women  as  poultry  keepers,  39,  42,  i  22 

Wood  Duck,  134 

Wyandotte,  59 ;  Silver- Laced,  illus- 
trated, 59;  White,  60;  illustrated, 
60,  82  ;  Partridge,  illustrated,  61  ; 
Silver-Penciled,  illustrated,  61  ; 
Buff,  origin  of,  62  ;  Columbian,  il- 
lustrated, 62 

Yard  of  small  poultry  fancier,  illus- 
trated, 120 

Yards,  for  fowls,  73;  for  ducks,  138; 
for  geese,  169;  for  turkeys,  190; 
for  pheasants,  219 

Yellow-legged  fowls,  American  prefer- 
ence for,  55 

Yolk  of  egg,  17 

Yorkshire  Canary,  illustrated,  270 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


Oft 


AUTO  DISC. 


§EP  1 1  1992 


CIRCULATION 


.YC  63852 


L^J:ELEy  CARIES 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


